


Our Little Miracle

by MiyaWritesThings



Series: New Planet, New Life [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Earth, Attempted Abortion, Babies, Beach Holidays, Depression, Eating Disorders, F/F, F/M, Grubs, Kidnapping, Lesbian Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Miscarriage, Postpartum Depression, Pregnancy, Stillbirth, Temporary Character Death, Troll Reproduction, Wriggling Day, lesbian wedding, wrigglers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 70,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1472584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiyaWritesThings/pseuds/MiyaWritesThings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since John and Vriska had Casey, Karkat and Terezi have been dying to have one of their own. Now that they've finally gotten what they've wanted, will things turn out the way they planned? Rated T for language and some suggestive material. Trolls are capable of natural reproduction in this universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preparing for Parenting

**Author's Note:**

> The first part of this chapter is kind of awkward. You know, just one of those things where it gets all weird in the process of being transferred from your brain to the paper/word document.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Terezi and Karkat discuss becoming parents.

**-Tuesday, May 9, 5:21 am/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

The hot water calmed her nerves as she slowly slid into the bathtub. She didn't know why she was hurting so badly. Unfortunately, the hot water didn't help with the pain at all.

She couldn't get her mind off of the pain. It had been hurting all day, and she didn't know what was wrong. It worried her.

She smelled a faint trickle of teal coming from somewhere. Soon the smell continued to get stronger, as well as the pain. Finally she realized what was happening.

And she screamed.

* * *

Terezi rolled over and stuffed her head underneath the pillow, trying to forget the horrid recurring nightmare. This had been the fifth one in a month. She was already scared enough as it was, having to carry an egg inside of her for who knows how much longer. The nightmares weren't helping; she couldn't afford to have another miscarriage.

After trying to fall back asleep for at least ten minutes, she just decided to get up.

Terezi got out of bed, trying not to disturb Karkat, and went down the hallway to the nursery. The teal-blood sighed as she flipped on the light and sat down in the rocking chair in the corner.

Her hands rested on her swollen stomach as she took a look around the room.  _We did a pretty good job for buying most of this secondhand,_ she thought, deciding to stand back up.

She walked past the brown crib and slowly ran her fingers across the bar, reminding herself that soon, a grub would be sleeping there. Terezi and Karkat were certain it was only one, but they didn't know what gender it would be. Could grubs even  _have_  a gender? How on  _earth_ were they going to name the poor thing?

They hadn't even thought of names, either. Terezi had hurried to finish the semester's work, not to mention her internship, which would be resumed during the fall semester. Karkat's early-morning job at Starbucks paid decently, but there was no way a family of three could live off of just that. So Terezi had pushed herself to work (much like Vriska had when she was pregnant with Casey), and had only stopped a couple of weeks earlier. So, of course she had barely had any time to think of names.

Terezi heard something in the hallway and turned around to see what, or whom, it was. Karkat walked into the room, yawning and scratching his head.

"What are you doing up this early?" he asked, yawning again.

"Couldn't sleep." The troll softly laughed, staring at the floor. Her hands folded protectively on top of her stomach yet again.

Karkat leaned against the wall. "Why not?"

Terezi slowly looked up, but once she caught her husband's eye, she instantly looked away. "Karkat, I'm—I'm scared," she squeaked.

Karkat sighed, walking over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her in a loving embrace. "Babe, everything is going to be fine, I promise," he reassured her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"But—" The teal-blood sighed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I don't know what to expect! I've  _never_  taken care of another living thing before, what if I do something wrong? What if I've already done something wrong and it comes out  _dead_?!"

Karkat squeezed Terezi again, this time his hands sliding down her body to cradle her stomach. "Babe, I  _trust_  you with this. Remember when you planned our entire wedding with almost no help at all? You're  _definitely_  responsible enough to take care of our kid."

"I know that, it's just…" Terezi pulled Karkat's hands away and turned around to face him. "I don't think I'm ready yet, that's all. We should have waited a few years before trying again!"

"Terezi." Karkat put his hands on his wife's shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "We can do this. We're twenty in human years. We have our driver's licenses. We have our own house, no matter how badly it needs to be fixed up, it's still  _ours_. Don't be afraid, Terezi, I  _trust_ you." He pulled Terezi into yet another hug. "Soon, it'll be you, me, and our little miracle."


	2. Katrina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Terezi and Karkat finally receive their little miracle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a not very graphic birth scene.

**-11:41 am/John & Vriska's house-**

"Cassia Jane Egbert!" Vriska exclaimed, running over to pick up her eight-month-old daughter. Casey had opened one of the cabinets in the kitchen and was trying to grab hold of a Ziploc container. "No ma'am, we  _do not_  do that."

Casey stopped and plopped her bottom in the floor, staring at her mother. "Ma?" she cooed, reaching out her arms as Vriska picked her up.

"Hi baby." Vriska kissed her daughter's cheek and brushed back her fluffy dark brown hair. "It's time to eat, okay?"

The second Vriska slid Casey into her high chair, her cell phone buzzed with a text message.

From:  _John_

Text:  _Karkat just texted me. He and Terezi are at the hospital._

Vriska cocked her head and typed her response _. Is Tez having the gru8?_

Casey was confused as to why her mother wasn't feeding her, and reached her arms out. Vriska was about to pick her up, but her phone buzzed again.

_Yeah. Karkat said Terezi's in a lot of pain, so you probably shouldn't talk to her._

Vriska shrugged and set her phone back down on the table, then turned to Casey. "Okay, Casey-Peanut," she cooed to the infant, "are you ready for some carrots?"

* * *

**-3:57 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

It had been almost eight hours since Terezi went into "labor", and she was miserable. At only four centimeters dilated, there was no way she could push the egg out right then. She had begged and begged the doctors _not_ to do a Caesarean section, because if they cut her open, they might mess up her, ahem, special "troll parts". Not to mention the whole "not human" thing in general.

Karkat hated seeing his matesprit in so much pain. After a maximum dosage of pain medication plus the epidural, she still was crying out in pain quite often. She had even requested some ice to chew on and a hot towel, which had yet to be brought to their room. He couldn't do anything but hold Terezi's hand and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"Mrs. Vantas?" A nurse knocked on the door before opening it. "I have your ice right here; unfortunately, I can't bring the towel until you're dilated a bit more."

"Okay." Terezi groaned as she took the ice from the nurse.

"I also need to check you…" Terezi nodded before the nurse sat down on the stool at the foot of the bed. "It looks like you're about…six centimeters. Four more until you can push!"

Terezi sighed with relief, looking up at Karkat. "Thank you," she managed to get out before she was overcome with a wave of pain.

"Terezi…?" Karkat immediately grabbed his wife's hand as her head hit the pillow. "Terezi, babe, are you okay…?"

The nurse gasped. "Mrs. Vantas?" she exclaimed.

Terezi continued to lie there, totally unresponsive.

"Is she okay?!" Karkat shot a piercing look at the nurse, who began to back away uncomfortably.

"W-well…" The nurse broke eye contact with the male troll and scratched her neck. "It's…not particularly common nowadays, but…it IS possible for a woman to pass out during labor…"

"But  _will she be okay_?!" The mutant-blooded troll slammed his hands down on the hospital bed, jumping a bit when it shook so hard.

The nurse nodded before exiting the room much quicker than she had entered.

"Terezi…" Karkat softly chucked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, taking his wife's hand in his. "Why do you have to make things so difficult every time you end up in the hospital?"

Suddenly, he heard a small moan from the other end of the bed. Terezi slowly reached up and rubbed her eyes.

Karkat's eyes lit up and he squeezed her hand. "Terezi, babe? Are you okay?"

"I'm not weak, dumbass." She grabbed her stomach with one hand and punched Karkat's shoulder.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, his hand immediately flying to rub his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"For being such a fucking idiot and knocking me up in the first place." Terezi sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Karkat, I don't want to have any more kids if it's going to hurt this badly!" She grabbed her enlarged stomach as she cried out in pain. "I don't even know how Vriska did it! It feels like someone is stabbing me repetitively and there's nothing I can do about it!"

Karkat sighed. "Babe…" He hesitated. "Everything is going to be okay. You can do this. I trust you."

* * *

**-8:30 pm-**

The minutes continued to tick by, and the "contractions" only continued to get worse. Fortunately, Terezi had dilated to ten centimeters rather quickly (within five hours), so she was just about ready to push.

It was a miserable fifteen minutes. Along with the doctor, more nurses than needed were waiting to assist Terezi whenever she needed it. A small crowd had gathered outside of their room, beckoned by the intense screaming and cursing coming from inside.

"C'mon, Terezi," Karkat coaxed, squeezing his wife's hand as he looked on, waiting for the egg to pop out of her. "You can do it; you're almost done."

"No I can't, fuckass!" She let out a scream of excruciating pain as a contraction forced her to push.

"Okay, Mrs. Vantas." The doctor looked directly at Terezi in all seriousness. "I need one big, strong push, and then I think I'll be able to pull it out, alright?"

Terezi nodded, but was still unsure. Either way, she knew she had to get the egg out somehow.

"Are you ready?" Terezi nodded again. "Okay, push!"

The teal-blood let out a final scream and finally pushed the highly anticipated egg out. Panting and exhausted, she attempted to sit up and get a look at what would soon be her child.

"No wonder it took such a long time to get out!" The doctor tried to crack a joke, but Karkat and Terezi weren't very amused. "It's a…I don't really know what this is…!"

She held it up for the new parents to see. Karkat and Terezi looked at each other before nodding at the doctor to clean it off. There wasn't much to clean off; it was an egg, after all. All it needed was a good wiping, but otherwise there was nothing.

Terezi gasped when she finally received the egg, now cleaned off and wrapped in a fluffy yellow blanket. It was about the size of a newborn human baby, slightly wider (of course it was hard to push out). Although she couldn't really see it, it was still beautiful to her—it was  _hers_.

Karkat smiled as he peeked over the edge to get a look at what would turn into his kid. He could see the outline of a still-developing grub through the translucent membrane. While the physical features of it couldn't specifically be pointed out, by God, did it have a lot of hair!

"Do you maybe want to start thinking about names…?" he whispered to Terezi, running his fingers down the side of her hot, teal-tinted cheeks.

Terezi smiled, looking up at Karkat. "It's a girl, so I think it should be easy."

"How do you know it's a girl?"

"I can smell her, dummy!" Terezi laughed before nuzzling her face against Karkat's shoulder.

"Well, what should we name our daughter, then?" Karkat had smiled a smile as large as he had when he and Terezi got married.

"Ka—" Terezi was about to say something, but thought for a moment. "—trina!"

"What?"

"Katrina! We should name her Katrina!"

Karkat chuckled softly and stroked the newly laid egg's membrane. "Katrina. I like that. Katrina Teresa Vantas."


	3. Happy Wriggling Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which John, Vriska, Karkat, and Terezi all meet Katrina, but in different ways.

**-Friday, May 13, 6:09 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house /3 days old-**

"What  _is_  that?" John asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. He slowly reached out to touch the egg and shuddered at the leathery texture of it. "And… _all_  trolls are born like this…?"

"Mm-hm." Terezi nodded, taking the egg back. "At least, they're supposed to. We don't really know."

"How do you not know?" John glanced at Vriska, hoping for an explanation. When he didn't get any, he turned back to Karkat and Terezi.

"Let me put it this way: If you reproduce naturally, you get killed." Karkat sighed, sitting down next to Terezi. "There was this thing, back on Alternia, called the Mother Grub. She took all the genetic material collected from us trolls and made eggs. So really, there was no need to reproduce naturally, because  _she_  did all the work, and lusii were there to raise the young."

John nodded, trying to make sense of what Karkat had just told him. "When will it, y'know…hatch?"

Terezi shrugged. "We don't know. She'll hatch when she wants to hatch. It could be a week, it could be a month." She propped the egg up on her elbow.

Vriska sat Casey down on the floor to crawl around, and then sat herself down as well. "When do you go back to work, Tez?"

The teal-blood cringed at the awful nickname, but she knew that Vriska wouldn't stop using it any time soon. "Well…" She thought for a moment. "…I don't think until August. I don't start school until the 28th, so I'd think it'd be sometime around then."

Both grown Egberts nodded understandingly. When Terezi and Karkat first learned they were having a grub, Karkat decided he would drop out of college because now they  _definitely_  couldn't afford it. Besides, then he'd be able to work extra shifts and make more money. Once Terezi went back to school and work, though, he would go to his morning shift at Starbucks and then stay home the rest of the day to take care of Katrina. Sure, it would be a huge change of plans, but this is his  _daughter_  we're talking about. He would do  _anything_  for her.

Karkat whispered something to Terezi and she handed the egg over to him. "It's going to be…different," he said to John and Vriska.

"You'll get used to it." John snapped at Casey, who was trying to chew on a lamp cord. "Well…sort of. I don't know how much…grubs?…cry, but if it's as much as babies, then it'll be hard at first. Casey cried a lot when she was littler, but it's gotten better."

"I hope it will," Karkat sighed. "I have to be up by 5:30 every morning."

"Then you'll get used to it pretty quickly." John clicked his tongue and laughed, then stood up. "Alright, what's for dinner?"

"Karkat made spaghetti," Terezi said, sitting up. She glanced at her husband, who was standing up with the egg. "Karkles, could you put her upstairs while we eat?" she asked him.

"Sure, then I'll bring you some food." The mutant-blood started upstairs as Terezi turned back to John and Vriska.

"So, anyway…"

* * *

**-Friday, May 20, 4:23 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/10 days old-**

Now that it had been ten days since Katrina was delivered, Karkat and Terezi were wondering when she would hatch. The pain and inflammation "down there" had gotten better enough for Terezi to walk again, but she still felt like jell-o from the waist down.

Many people—Mr. Egbert, the Freeman's, Mrs. Wilson-Lee, and Ana, to name a few—had called the Vantases to see how they were doing. Thankfully, most of their friends understood the whole "not human" thing, so the whole situation was pretty to explain. Almost everyone asked something along the lines of "how's the baby?" or "is everything all right at home?".

Terezi was in Katrina's nursery, trying to organize the new things she and Karkat had just bought for their daughter. She was almost overwhelmed by all the shades of pink—red would be her preferred color, but sadly it was considered a "boy" color.

She sighed before turning around to look at the egg in the crib. The grub inside had obviously gotten bigger, and looked like she was becoming uncomfortable, all crammed in there. Maybe Katrina was ready to hatch soon…?

Well, Terezi's predictions were correct. Katrina began wiggling vigorously within the egg, causing it to roll around in the crib. Terezi hesitated—maybe her eyes were just playing tricks in her.  _No, wait, I'm blind,_  she remembered, immediately rushing to the side of the crib.

Her first instinct was to call Karkat. After hearing his wife's distressed call, Karkat immediately ran upstairs to the nursery.

"She's hatching, and I don't know what to do!" she cried, deciding to drop down the bar of the crib. Katrina continued to roll around, now hitting the sides of the crib.

"Well,  _maybe_  you should  _hold_  her to keep her from rolling around," Karkat suggested.

Terezi's eyes lit up and she immediately held the egg. Katrina stopped rolling around and now looked like she was making an effort to come out.

Soon she wiggled out, a candy red-blooded grub with nubby horns. Karkat and Terezi held their breath at the sight of their daughter. Aside from not having pupated into a troll yet, she was already displaying very distinct features inherited from her parents. She had her father's thick, wavy hair, now matted down and wet from being inside the egg. Along with Karkat's hair, she was basically her father made over. The only feature she shared with her mother was her mouth.

Katrina stopped when she finally opened her eyes—they were Karkat's, too. "Is something wrong?" Karkat whispered to Terezi, but she quickly hushed him.

The newly hatched grub stared at her parents for a long time before reacting at all. Her eyes widened and she made a squeeing noise as she nuzzled her head against her parents' chests.

"Hi," Terezi laughed, picking up the grub, who was reaching out her arms. "I'm your Mama, and this is your Daddy."

Katrina squealed again and wiggled her arms at Karkat, who cracked a smile. He couldn't help but think,  _This is how trolls are supposed to be born and raised: By their own parents, not by adoptive parents who don't really nurture them well._

He laughed again and tousled Katrina's hair. She squealed in response. "I know you're gonna have an awesome life, Princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was finished rather quickly, as I was being rushed.


	4. Humans Don't Know a Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Vantases meet up with some old friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes the Freeman family. If you've just started reading at this one, you won't know who they are. They were briefly mentioned in Oh, Baby but they were major supporting characters in I'd Only Choose You.
> 
> See chapters 8, 10, 11, 16, 26, and 33 of I'd Only Choose You and chapters 10, 14, and 24 of Oh, Baby for more information if you don't know about the Freemans.

**-Sunday, May 29, 12:26 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/3 weeks old-**

"Terezi, are you ready?" Karkat called from downstairs, ticking Katrina's stomach. He and the other two Vantases were going over to the Freemans' house for lunch. The two families hadn't seen each other in a long time, and there was a lot to catch up on.

"Just a minute!" Terezi capped the tube of black lipstick and put her red sunglasses back on. She was sort of looking forward to lunch, but she would have preferred to stay home with Karkat and Katrina, just being a little family.

She hurried downstairs and immediately scooped Katrina into her arms. The grub wiggled with excitement as her mother kissed her. "Come on, Katrina," Terezi cooed, "do you want to meet new people?"

Katrina squirmed in Terezi's arms and squealed, signaling that she did in fact want to meet people.

"Alright then," Terezi laughed, taking her daughter into the kitchen where the car seat was. Katrina had never been outside the house before, so Karkat and Terezi were interested to see how that would go.

"Are you ready?" Karkat asked again, standing up to go into the kitchen.

"Mm-hm." Terezi finished strapping Katrina into the car seat and picked it up. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

**-12:52 pm/the Freemans' house-**

Terezi unhooked Katrina's car seat and took it out before slamming the back door. "Do you want me to take her?" Karkat asked.

"I've got her." She and Karkat walked to the front door. Karkat rang the doorbell, glancing at Katrina with a small smile.

The three heard footsteps as Mrs. Freeman ran to answer the door. "Hello!" the woman exclaimed with an enthusiastic smile. "Come in, come in!"

The couple (and Katrina) stepped inside. "Hi," Terezi smiled.

"Oh, is that Katrina?" Mrs. Freeman asked, looking down at the grub in the car seat. Katrina was wrapped in a pink blanket to conceal everything but her head, and squirmed when the unfamiliar blonde woman looked at her.

"Mm-hm." Terezi smiled. "It's been over a week since she hatched."

"Wow, already?" the woman laughed, stepping off to the side to let the Vantases in. Karkat and Terezi were grateful they no longer had to explain anything to her. "Well, you three can just make yourselves at home, and I'll be right back."

While Karkat, Terezi, and Katrina waited in the living room, she went upstairs and down the hallway to Cole's bedroom. "Cole?" she asked, knocking on the door.

Cole looked up from his homework. "Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Mrs. Freeman slowly opened the door.

"Sure."

The blonde woman sat down on her oldest son's bed with a sigh. "I want to talk to you about Karkat and Terezi."

"Are they not coming?"

"Shh, they're downstairs." Mrs. Freeman sighed again. "Now, I'm not saying they're not nice people, just…don't do what they did."

"What do you mean?" Cole cocked his head.

"Just…wait until you get out of college before getting married and having kids. Not that Karkat and Terezi are bad people or anything—I think they're doing pretty well for not growing up here, but…you know."

"Don't worry, Mom!" Cole rolled his brown eyes with a smile. "I don't plan to propose to Vanessa until after we graduate the end of next year, if we're still together then."

Mrs. Freeman smiled. "I just wanted to make sure. Now, don't mention to either of them I said that, okay?"

"Okay."

"And if you could mention to everyone else to try not to get too loud, that would be great. They brought their baby, and I don't know too much, but it would probably be a good idea—"

"Okay. Got it."

Cole's mother smiled again and hugged him. "Great. Would you mind rounding up your brothers and sister while you're up here?"

"Not at all." Cole stuffed his papers into his textbook and closed it.

"Thank you, baby."

* * *

**-1:07 pm-**

"Katrina's so cute!" Cole exclaimed, tickling the grub's stomach with his finger. She laughed in response.

"Careful," Terezi laughed, "she bites."

"She…bites?" The dirty blond carefully took his hand away.

"Only sometimes." Terezi took Katrina back and placed her in the car seat on the floor. "Oh, thank you guys for inviting us over for lunch, by the way."

"You are so very welcome," Mrs. Freeman responded. She paused for a moment, swallowing a mouthful of food. "So how are things at home? Are you adjusting pretty well?"

"Well enough." Karkat stabbed his salad with his fork. "I mean, sometimes she'll cry in the middle of the night, but not too often. She's pretty well-behaved, actually."

"That's good," Mrs. Freeman told them. "What else does she usually do?"

"She likes biting things," Terezi told the woman.

"Biting…?" Mrs. Freeman raised an eyebrow. "Like…teething?"

"Well, she can't be teething since she hatched with a full set of teeth."

All of the Freemans looked disturbed to some degree. "Is…is that normal?" Mr. Freeman asked Karkat and Terezi.

Terezi shrugged. "Probably. Both Karkat and I have sharp teeth."

"You mean you don't know?"

"We weren't raised to know," Karkat told Mr. Freeman. "Let's just say, where we're from, getting married and having kids wasn't exactly on the agenda."

"Well…" Cole looked at Karkat and Terezi, not really knowing what to say. "…are you guys planning on having any more?"

Karkat looked at Terezi, and vice versa. "…Probably," she said. "Not any time soon, though. We'd rather wait until we've graduated and have better jobs."

Cole nodded in understandment as Mrs. Freeman stood up. "Well," she told everyone, "I'll be right back with dessert!"

* * *

**-3:09 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

"Come on, Katrina," Terezi mumbled through gritted teeth, rocking her daughter back and forth. Oh, why did Karkat have to suddenly be called into work? He was the only one who could calm her down when she was screaming!

Katrina continued to cry, but Terezi wasn't giving up just yet. Resting the screaming grub's head on her shoulder, she carried her downstairs to see if there was any milk in the fridge. (Although trolls were able to breastfeed, the sharp teeth of grubs made it very uncomfortable and, often times, painful. Bottle feeding was advised.)

When Katrina didn't take the bottle, Terezi began to panic. She had already tried putting her to sleep, and that didn't work. So what was making her cry?

The teal-blood did some quick thinking and went into the living room to sit down on the couch. Leaning Katrina's tiny head on her shoulder, she rubbed the grub's back until the crying ceased.

Katrina whimpered and hiccupped Terezi patted her on the back. "I think you're ready to take a nap," she said to the grub, rubbing her back as she went upstairs to the nursery.

Terezi smiled when she laid Katrina down in the crib and pulled the tiny blanket over her body. "Have a good nap," she whispered, turning off the light and exiting the room.


	5. Paranoid Playdates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Terezi and Vriska feel as if a playdate is a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually don't like updating in bulk, but I keep forgetting to update this fic on here. I'll post the next 5 chapters tonight as well.

**-Saturday, June 4, 11:22 am/John & Vriska's house/still 3 weeks old-**

Vriska finished putting Casey's toys in a bin and breathed out a long sigh of relief.  _It will be a very good day when she's finally able to help me_ , she thought, turning around to face her daughter.

Casey stopped crawling and looked up at her mother. "Come on," Vriska cooed, picking her up and taking her into the kitchen.

Terezi was taking Katrina over to the Egberts' that day to play with Casey. Even though Katrina was only three weeks old, since she was a troll she was at about the same mental and physical capability level of a six-month-old baby, and would definitely be able to interact with Casey in some way.

Vriska was kind of nervous, though—what if Casey's and Katrina's relationship was the same as hers and Terezi's used to be? She couldn't force them to like each other, but if they didn't get along, that wouldn't be good…

The doorbell rang and Vriska took Casey with her to answer the door. "Hey," she said to Terezi, opening the door for her and Katrina. "Come on in."

Terezi took the car seat and placed it on the floor. "I just realized you've never seen her in person," Terezi laughed, slowly beginning to take Katrina out of the car seat.

She was wrapped in a blanket, still sound asleep as her mother picked her up. Once she realized she was no longer in the car seat, she yawned and rested her head on Terezi's shoulder.

"She's so cute," Vriska told Terezi with a bit of a smile. "Well, not as cute as Casey, of course. I mean, she's the cutest thing that could've come out of  _you_."

Terezi rolled her eyes and followed Vriska to the living room, sitting next to the cerulean-blood on the couch. "Try not to wake her up," she told Vriska. "She usually doesn't take naps, so she must be  _really_  tired."

"Aww," Vriska whined, repinning a bow in Casey's hair. "Casey was really looking forward to playing with Katrina today."

"She'll get to, don't worry. Just let Katrina take a nap first." Terezi played with her grubs's hair and pulled the blanket back over her tiny body.

Casey stared at the thing in Terezi's lap before reaching over and grabbing its hair. Before Terezi could do anything, Katrina rolled off of her lap and plopped onto the floor.

"Cassia Jane Egbert!" Vriska snapped, shaking her finger in her daughter's face. Katrina, now awake, began to cry before scurrying underneath the coffee table.

Terezi sighed before getting down on the floor. "C'mon, Katrina," she calmly said, "it's okay, it's okay. Mama's right here."

Katrina whimpered a bit as she crawled out from underneath the coffee table and into Terezi's arms. The whimpering ceased when Terezi picked her up, and was almost totally calmed down by then.

"I am  _so_  sorry," Vriska apologized. "Maybe Katrina's still a bit too young to okay with Casey."

The teal blood shook her head and gave Katrina a bottle. "No, I think  _you_  need to watch what Casey's doing and keep her from doing bad things."

"Excuse me?" the blue-blooded troll exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She sighed and put Casey on the floor to crawl around. "So anyway, I have a thing to go to this afternoon, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Come with you…?" Terezi was curious to find out what the thing was. "What is it?"

"You know the class I took with John when I was still pregnant with Casey?" Terezi nodded. "Well, me and some of the other moms are getting together at the park in a couple of hours so the babies can play and we can talk."

It sounded like fun, but Terezi was unsure. She didn't know how other people would react to Katrina being different. Unless she could get Katrina to sleep the entire time, it might not be a good idea. But Karkat WAS working an extra shift and she DID need something to do…

"I…guess."

* * *

**-3:24 pm/Maple Valley Public Park-**

"I'm still no so sure about this," Terezi said as she and Vriska got out of the car. "I mean, what will they think of Katrina? She's obviously not human…"

" Jennifer knows I'm not human." Vriska opened one of the back doors and began getting Casey out of her car seat. "She want too surprised when I told her. I mean, I look different, for one thing, and besides, so many people here believe that there are things like us out there."

Terezi grunted, lifting Katrina's car seat out of the back. "I don't know…it's a miracle I got her to sleep, though."

"Maybe she'll sleep through the entire thing, so you won't have to explain anything."

The four continued towards the group of moms and babies in the back of the park. Several of the moms looked up curiously—they knew who Vriska was, obviously, but not Terezi.

"Hi," Vriska said with an airy sigh, putting Casey down on the blue picnic blanket before sitting down herself.

"Hi," several of the other moms responded in near-unison . Jennifer was the only one who really knew Vriska, and the other just had neutral feelings towards the cerulean-blood.

Terezi just stood there awkwardly, staring at the human babies. Several of the moms were glancing at her and whispering amongst themselves.

"Vriska, is this your sister?" Jennifer asked, getting a good look at Terezi. Terezi felt really awkward being the only one standing, so she set Katrina's car seat on the ground and quickly sat down next to Vriska.

Vriska shook her head and decided to introduce her "friend". "This is Terezi. She lives across the street from me."

"Terezi Vantas, nice to meet you." Terezi went around and shook everyone's hands.

"Oh, do you have a baby too?" one of the ladies asked.

Terezi nodded. "Katrina's asleep right now, though. She might wake up soon."

"How old is she?" another mom asked.

"She'll be a month old on the tenth." Terezi smiled, glancing at the wiggler in the car seat. "She's growing up fast."

* * *

**-4:01 pm-**

Everyone chatted quietly as they watched the babies play. Casey was getting along well with Bella, Jennifer's daughter, and Joshua, another baby. The three would climb on top of each other, and Casey was trying to pass a ball back and forth, but the other two wouldn't catch on.

Vriska and Terezi laughed when Casey fell onto her butt and tried to get up again. Terezi giggled again and looked down at Katrina's car seat.

She froze

"Terezi…?" Vriska leaned over and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Terezi blankly stared at the empty car seat, her eyes beginning to water as her heart rate immediate sped up.

"Katrina's gone."

* * *

Terezi's eyes shot open and she took a glance at the clock. 4:13 am. When would she stop doing that?!

Immediately she remembered Katrina, so she jumped out of bed and ran to the nursery. Thankfully, the tiny grub was sound asleep in the crib, and Terezi breathed a sigh of relief as tears began to pour from her eyes.

"Maybe I should call Vriska and tell her we'll come over another time," she thought, reaching in the crib to pick up Katrina.

The grub barely stirred when her head was laid against her mother's shoulder. Terezi sighed with a smile, savoring the moment.

She kissed her daughter on the cheek and placed her back in the crib. "Please, Katrina," she whispered, "when you're older,  _please_  tell me when you're going somewhere!" Terezi laughed. "I love you."


	6. Two Very Important Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Karkat and Terezi celebrate a very special day.

Not much happened since then. Katrina had grown some, enough for Terezi to deem her big enough to play with Casey. Her fears of then not getting along proved to be incorrect—the two got along just fine.

Karkat "turned" 21 on June 12, and since both of them could legally drink, he and John went to a local bar for the night. Terezi and Vriska, who desperately needed time off as well, somehow managed to talk Rose and Kanaya into watching Katrina and Casey. It went over very well, and they said they were willing to baby- and grub-sit again.

* * *

**-Sunday, June 19/12:06 pm/Applebee's Neighborhood Bar**   **& Grill/5 ** **weeks old-**

"Alright, follow me." The waiter finished grabbing the menus and began walking towards a larger table in the back. The Vantases and the Egberts followed.

"And what would you like to drink?" Everyone ordered what they wanted to drink. Karkat showed off his driver's license as he proudly ordered a glass of wine. The waiter said he'd be right back with the drinks and left the two families to themselves.

"So how do you like being 21?" John asked Karkat. The brunet leaned on the table.

Karkat sighed and glanced at Katrina, who was in the car seat on top of a high chair. "It's not any different," he told the human, "the only difference is that I can drink alcohol. It's not anything special.

"I understand." John looked up. The waiter was approaching the table with the drinks, and took everyone's orders.

Not long after that, the adults received their food. Terezi began cutting up vegetables and meat into tiny pieces for Katrina, stopping every so often to eat.

John realized what she was doing and his face contorted into a confused expression. "Are you sure she can eat that?" he asked the troll.

Terezi nodded and fed a piece of chicken to Katrina to show John. "She hadn't been taking a bottle lately, so we think she's skipped over the disgusting mush and straight into actual food."

"Trolls are weird." John scoffed before returning to his pasta. "No offense or anything, of course."

"None taken. Humans are weird, in my opinion." Terezi held a piece of asparagus in front of Katrina, who happily ate it.

"Y'know…" Vriska paused. "What I don'tunderstand, is how Casey ended up looking so…human. I mean, she has peachy skin, and she doesn't even have horns! I was expecting her to look like me in  _some_  way, at least."

"And she does, Vriska," John reassured. "She has my teeth, though, and I'm awfully sorry about that."

Vriska sighed, remembering what John told her about those "braces" things and how much they cost.

"Hey, Karkat."

"What?" the mutant-blood answered in an irritated tone. He hadn't been in the mood to talk when he woke up, and still didn't want to.

John couldn't help but laugh a little. "Katrina looks exactly like you."

At the mention of her name, the grub let out a joyous squeal, and Karkat cracked a smile.

"Yeah, I've gotten that," he said with a laugh.

"And she's a cutie, just like her daddy!" Terezi chimed before licking her fingers. Karkat rolled his eyes at the cheesiness, but, hey, she was Terezi. Whenever she teased, she always meant well.

* * *

**-Tuesday, June 27, 8:43 am** **/Karkat & Terezi's house/7 weeks old-**

Terezi rolled over when she heard the bedroomdoor opened, and was greeted by the nice, familiar scent of her matesprit. "Morning, Karkles," she whispered, a smile appearing on her face.

"Hey." Karkat went up to Terezi's side of the bed and gave his wife a kiss before taking off his Starbucks t-shirt. "Do you know what day it is?"

"It's…our anniversary, right?"

"Mm-hm." He sat down on the bed. "We got married two earth years ago. That's hard to believe, huh?"

"Yeah." Terezi sat up and yawned. "Have you checked on Katrina yet?"

Karkat nodded and stood back up, running his fingers through his hair a few times. "I would have brought her to you, but she's sound asleep."

"Good. Don't wake her up." Terezi smiled again before snuggling back under the covers. "What are we going to do tonight?"

Her husband sighed and dejectedly looked down at the floor. "Fuck…I couldn't get anyone to watch Katrina tonight," he told her. "Rose and Kanaya both have to work, John has to watch Casey when Vriska goes to work tonight, and Cole's on vacation. And I wasn't even going to consider hiring a human babysitter, since…"

"It's fine!" Terezi exclaimed. "We can just take her with us. I think she'll have fun."

* * *

**-6:12 pm/Maple Valley Public Park-**

By now, Karkat and Terezi were used to the weird stared from humans, and they weren't going to let that ruin their anniversary.

"Let me take her," Karkat said, gently pushing his wife aside and taking hold of the stroller handlebar. "You've been pushing her all this time. You need a break."

Terezi happiy moved over—not that she didn't like pushing Katrina, but it was a pain sometimes having to push her around. She was also a bit self-conscious of all the looks people were giving her. Five foot ten, jet black hair with orange conical horns poking through, and bright red sunglasses—she obviously stood out among the humans. But it wasn't like she could doanything about it.

Karkat stopped walking and grabbed Terezi's hand to keep her from walking any further. "What are you doing?" she asked, stumbling a bit as Karkat pulled her next to him.

"Does this place smell familiar?"

Terezi paused to take in the scents of her surroundings. It smelled very stony and mildews, and, by the fact that the sound of water flowing accompanied the smell, she determined they were standing next to a fountain.

"This…is where you proposed to me, right?"

She wouldn't dare forget the moment Karkat asked her to human marry him. He was wearing every possible shade of grey, the slight scent of garlic and tomatoes lingering on his clothes from their Italian dinner. Not many people were there that night, and the two were left to walk around together.

_"I've been thinking for a while, about you and me. At first I thought living together would be terrible, but now I wouldn't go back to my own hive for anything in the universe! All of that made me think, 'Well, why don't we be together forever?'. Terezi, I'd like to become more than just matesprits. More than just 'boyfriend and girlfriend'."_

She remembered it very clearly—the exact moment when he pulled the small black box out of his pocket and got down on one knee.  _"Will you marry me?"_

Terezi finished remembering the proposal and immediately pressed her lips against Karkat's. "Mm!" he exclaimed, forgetting how good that type of kiss felt. Eventually he got his tongue into her mouth.

People were beginning to stare, but Karkat and Terezi didn't care. An elderly woman walked by, spewing derogatory slurs and yelling about how they'd never raise a child properly, but they ignored her.

"Shall we take this home?" Karkat whispered in his wife's ear. She nodded and pecked him on the cheek before the three went back to their car.

* * *

**-7:06 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Terezi rested her head on Karkat's bare shoulder and let out a lengthy sigh. "I love you," she whispered, "looking" up at Karkat with her scorched red eyes.

"I love you too." Karkat kissed her forehead and wrapped his other arm around her.

Just then, the couple heard whines from down the hall. "Katrina…" Terezi sighed, beginning to get out of bed. "I'll get her."

The teal-blood slipped on a chemise and made her way to the nursery. She found Katrina rolled over onto her back in the crib, and she laughed. Katrina had been getting chubby lately, and still wasn't used to her larger size. It took much more of an effort for her to roll over now, and she didn't like that.

Terezi reached in the crib and flipped the grub over. Slowly but surely, the cries died downwhen Katrina realized she was right side up again.

"That's better, isn't it?" Terezi picked up Katrina and gently rubbed her back. Katrina smiled and nuzzled her head into Terezi's shoulder.

"Terezi? Babe?" Terezi turned her head at the sound of Karkat's voice. "Is she alright? What happened?"

"She just couldn't roll back over, that's all." She laughed a little before kissing Katrina's head. "I think she's ready to go back to sleep, though."

"Heh, I bet." Karkat did the same as Terezi and kissed his daughter. "Goodnight, Princess," he whispered as Terezi slowly laid the grub back down in the crib.


	7. Nepeta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Terezi and an old friend decide to do some stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very good at Pesterlogs but I try.
> 
> The "less than" symbol in Nepeta's quirk got erased with the formatting.

**-Saturday, July 8, 9:42 am/Karkat & Terezi's house/2 months old-**

Terezi sat down at the kitchen table with Katrina in her lap and turned on her laptop. Karkat was working overtime today, so she and Katrina would be alone for a few hours.

As soon as it started up, a new message window appeared on Trollian, so she clicked on it.

\--arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]\--  
AC: :33 terezi!  
AC: :33 hi!  
GC: Oh, Nepeta, how are you?  
AC: :33 *ac wonders why terezi is talking weird*  
GC: OH SORRY  
GC: 1 H4V3NT T4LK3D L1K3 TH4T 1N 4 LONG T1M3  
GC: B3C4US3 COLL3GE  
AC: :33 whats college?  
GC: 1 K33P FORG3TT1NG WH4T 1 H4V3NT 3XPL41N3D TO YOU 4LR34DY  
GC: 1TS G3TT1NG K1ND OF CONFUS1NG  
AC: :33 oh  
GC: WHY DONT YOU COM3 OV3R?  
GC: K4RK4T H4S TO WORK UNT1L NOON  
GC: SO 1M STUCK H3R3 4T HOM3 W1TH K4TR1N4  
AC: :33 whos katrina? *wiggles ears*  
GC: OH R1GHT  
GC: YOU DONT KNOW WHO K4TR1N4 1S  
GC: M4YB3 COM1NG OV3R WOULD B3 4 GOOD 1D34  
AC: :33 alright!  
\--arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]\--

Terezi sighed and stood back up, Katrina in her arms. Nepeta knew she and Karkat had had a grub, but she hadn't seen it outside of Terezi's stomach. She was kind of anxious about it, though-would Nepeta tell anyone? Would they get found out and culled if she did tell? But she did know one thing however-it couldn't be kept a secret for too long.

A quick knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts and Katrina squeaked. "Coming!" Terezi called, preparing herself for, well, Nepeta.

She opened the front door and was met by a considerably taller, but still short, troll. Nepeta's olive green trench coat had gotten much shorter and was looking a little tight; she definitely needed a new one. Surprisingly, she was wearing the earth clothes she had gotten when she stayed with the Vantases to be a bridesmaid in their wedding. It was clear, though, that she had definitely changed in just two short months.

"Terezi?" Nepeta said, rolling her R a bit like a purr. She curiously looked at Katrina, who began babbling and uttering various sounds. "Is this...Kat-rina?"

"Katrina." Terezi corrected Nepeta's pronunciation with a smile. "Yeah. She's a cutie, isn't she?"

Nepeta slowly reached up and poked the grub's stomach. Katrina squirmed and laughed, trying to poke the unfamiliar troll with one of her legs.

"How old is she…?" Nepeta asked.

"Only about two earth months." Terezi stepped aside and motioned for the other troll to come inside, closing the door once she was in. "Are you hungry? We have some donuts, cereal…"

Nepeta stopped for a moment, trying to remember what this "cereal" thing was. "…No thanks," she told Terezi.

The two sat around, trying to figure out some place they could take Katrina. Suddenly Terezi remembered somewhere—although not her favorite place, it could work…

"Why don't we go to the mall?" Terezi asked. "We don't have anything to do and Katrina hasn't been out in a few days…"

The other adult troll shrugged. "It's  _purr_ fect, not that I really know or anything."

"Great." Terezi went into the kitchen and grabbed her car keys, also getting the stroller while she was in there. "We can get some lunch while we're there, too."

* * *

**-10:05 am/Town Center Mall-**

"If only I could find a parking space," Terezi mumbled to herself, scanning the parking lot for an empty space. Katrina was babbling away in the back seat; as cute as it was, Terezi couldn't wait for her to shut up.

"There's one!" Nepeta pointed to an empty parking space next to a grey pickup truck. Terezi quickly pulled into the space, stopping just a few inches from the facing car.

She opened the trunk and got out Katrina's stroller, beginning to set it up. Katrina squealed when she realized she was going somewhere.

"So what are we going to do here?" Nepeta cheerfully asked Terezi. Even though she'd lived on earth for about five months, she didn't remember too much since she was stuck at the Vantases' goddamn apartment most of the time then. "Is there anything fun  _fur_  us to do?"

"Obviously." Terezi locked the car and began pushing the stroller towards the entrance, the olive-blooded troll following behind her. "I don't plan on buying much, if anything at all, but I still want to go into stores. I haven't been since before Katrina was born, so the inventory is all different now."

Nepeta had a bit of trouble comprehending what Terezi was saying (stupid earth words) but nodded in agreement anyway. She didn't recall going to this "mall" thing at any point when she was on earth…but she was excited to find out what it was!

* * *

**-10:51 am-**

"We should probably go to a few stores first," Terezi told Nepeta. "It's too early to eat."

"But I'm hungry!" The other troll crossed her arms.

"Katrina's on a schedule and it's too early for her to eat. I'm not hungry either, and besides, the good restaurants aren't even open yet."

Nepeta continued to pout as they finished walking past the long line of kiosks and into a department store.

"I would get you a new coat, but since it's summer, there aren't any coats on sale," Terezi said, stopping to sniff a rack of shirts. "Ew, these smell gross…"

Crossing her arms again, Nepeta gave Terezi a look. "I don't need a new coat," she insisted, turning up her nose. "This one is  _purr_ fect and I love it. Okay?"

Terezi hesitantly nodded, although she did wonder why she was caring so much.  _I'm not Kanaya,_  she scoffed in her mind, then turned back towards another rack.

Katrina somehow managed to catch Nepeta's eye in the midst of all this, and the unfamiliar troll went up to the stroller to get a good look at the grub. "You're actually  _purr_ etty cute," she told Katrina, reaching down to tickle her stomach.

Katrina gurgled and wiggled her arms in response to Nepeta. "Mama!" she squealed, begging for her mother's attention.

"Shh." Terezi went over to the stroller to try and calm Katrina down. "Do you want your keys?" She reached into Katrina's diaper bag and pulled out a ring of plastic keys. The grub immediately reached out to grab the keys and started to chew on them.

"Why don't you buy Katrina something?" Nepeta purred.

Terezi thought for a moment. "…There's a toy store around here somewhere," she said to herself. She looked up at Nepeta. "Let's go!"

* * *

"How about this one, Katrina?" Terezi held a stuffed dolphin in front of Katrina. The grub pushed it away with a disagreeing squeal, and Terezi sighed. "Why don't you like anything"

They strolled into another aisle of stuffed animals, Terezi taking a deep breath to smell the colorful toys. "There's so many, Katrina," she whispered, "why don't you like any of them?"

"Terezi!" Nepeta called. The teal-blood turned around to find her friend, but mistakenly knocked a few stuffed animals off a shelf in the process.

Katrina laughed when one landed in her car seat. In fact, she took a liking to the red dango-looking puffball so much that she began to chew on it.

"Oh, baby—" Terezi sighed, snatching the puffball out of her daughter's arms and put it back on the shelf. "—don't play with things we haven't bought yet."

The grub started crying when the stuffed puffball was taken away from her. "No!" she cried, wiggling her legs and squirming."

"Do…do you want this?" Terezi put the stuffed thing next to Katrina, who immediately calmed down. "I guess we're getting this, then."

* * *

After checking out, the three went to the food court and got some lunch at a sandwich place before heading back to the Vantases' house. "I had a lot of fun today!" Nepeta told Terezi.

"I did too." Terezi smiled, glancing at the now-sleeping grub in the car seat. "I think you should come over again sometime, maybe when Karkat doesn't have to work."

"And then I can bring Equius!" Nepeta waved at Terezi before heading towards the door. "Bye, Terezi! Bye, Katrina!"

"


	8. Fuchsia-Blood Troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the unexpected happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my FF.net readers gave me the idea for this chapter. At first I was kind of scared to write it, but I thought it would be a great motive for a future event...enjoy!

- **Wednesday, July 19, 4:37 pm/John &**  **Vriska's house/10 weeks old-**

"John?" Vriska asked, approaching her husband who was finishing some schoolwork on his laptop. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" he looked up from his computer with a tired expression on his face.

"What would you think if I invited one of my old friends over for a few days?"

The human clicked "save" on the document and leaned back in his chair, sighing. "Depends on which 'friend'."

"Her name's Feferi, and she's  _reeeeeeeeally_  cool! I think you'd like her!"

"Alright. But when would she be coming over?"

Vriska sat down at the table to rest for a minute. "She was wanting to come tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" John paused. "…Alright. Where would she sleep though? We don't have anything other than junk in the guest room."

"John." Vriska couldn't help but laugh. "She can sleep on the couch. Or, in the bathtub, but I'd prefer the couch…"

She watched as John typed a few more sentences into the Word document. "…Okay," he told her. "Just a few days, though."

* * *

**-Thursday, July 20, 8:32 am/John & Vriska's house-**

Vriska tiredly carried Casey downstairs to eat breakfast. She had had a long shift at work the evening before, and she was exhausted. She couldn't believe how rude and hateful humans could be sometimes!

Why hadn't she told Feferi to just come over in the afternoon? There was no way she could act pleasant after only five hours of sleep. Besides, she had to feed Casey, do the laundry, finish cleaning up the kitchen…

"Vriska?"

_No_! Vriska thought, letting out a loud groan.  _Why now?_  "Just a second!" she whined, trying to ready herself for company.

She unlocked the basement door and came face-to-face with the Alternian heiress. "Vriska?" the tyrian purple-blooded troll asked, cocking her head. Vriska had changed a lot since Feferi had seen her, over two years earlier.

The cerulean-blood had put on a bit of weight from being pregnant with Casey, and currently was not wearing any makeup. Her hair was a bit shorter and she's grown a bit taller as well. "What?" she growled, raising an eyebrow.

"You look…different." Feferi's eyes drifted down to Casey. "Who's this?"

"Oh…" Vriska had forgotten that most of the other trolls didn't know who Casey was. The thought had simply slipped her mind, since she was so busy with a ten-month-old and a husband still in college. "Um…John and I had a baby. I probably should have told you before you came over here… She cries sometimes…"

"She's so cute!" Feferi exclaimed, bending down to get a better look at the baby. "Look at her tiny fingers! Ah, what's her name?!"

Vriska laughed a little, brushing some of Casey's hair out of her face. "This is Casey. She'll be half a sweep old soon."

"Hi Casey!" The heiress gave a tiny wave and stood straight again, looking back at Vriska. "So  _water_  we going to do?"

After feeding Casey and eating breakfast herself, Vriska showed Feferi around the house. She showed her where she would sleep, which bathrooms she could use, where the cups and dishes were, etc. Once she finished showing Feferi the house, Vriska went back downstairs with her and Casey and the three sat down at the kitchen table.

"Here's the deal," Vriska said, looking Feferi straight in the eye, "John leaves for college at about 7:30 in the morning. I usually get up between then and nine, depending on if Casey cries or not. I pretty much do whatever during the day, but John gets home at 3:30 and I have to be at work by four. Then I get back home around eight. You got that?"

Feferi stared at Vriska before saying anything. "Could you write that down?"

"Remind me to do that." Vriska stood up and got Casey out of her high chair. "Do you want to go across the street to Karkat and Terezi's house? There's not much to do, and I'm sure they won't mind."

"Karkat and Terezi…?" Feferi cocked her head. "I haven't seen them since…oh, glub, what is it culled… Terezi wore a pretty dress."

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind is coming over."

* * *

**-9:16 am/Karkat and Terezi's house-**

"What are you doing here?" Terezi asked, opening the door all the way for the two trolls standing on the front porch. "I mean, I know why Vriska is here—she always comes here— but Feferi, why are you here?"

"Vriska said I should come over." Feferi stopped, staring at the decor of the Vantases' house. "Wow, this place looks  _reel-ly_  old!"

"I think it was built sometime between 1910 and 1930, I don't really know." Terezi took everyone into the kitchen, where Karkat was playing with Katrina. "Karkat just got home. Does anyone want anything to drink?"

Feferi's eyes immediately jumped to the mutant-blooded grub on the table and the other mutant-blooded troll tickling her stomach. "Oh my  _cod_!" she exclaimed, running to the table. "You guys have a  _glub_?!"

Karkat immediately turned around, scared by Feferi's sudden outburst. "What the fuck?!" he exclaimed.

Katrina smiled and began rolling around on the table. "Fut!" she exclaimed. "Fut, fut, fut!"

"Karkat!" Terezi shouted, giving her husband a light slap with the back of her hand. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't talk like that around her! Now she's not going to stop saying that word!"

Karkat rolled his eyes and picked up Katrina. "Princess, we don't say that," he firmly told his daughter.

"What's her name?" Feferi asked, bending down to look at the grub.

"Katrina." The mutant-blood handed the grub off to his wife and sat back down. "We're currently waiting for her to pupate."

"Well, uh…" Vriska looked around the room, thinking for a moment. "What can we all do while we're here?"

* * *

- **9:56 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Terezi got into bed next to Karkat after finally putting Katrina down. The grub had been crying off and on for hours on end, ever since Feferi accidentally scared her that morning. "I don't know why Vriska invited Feferi over," she told her husband, taking off her glasses and putting them on the nightstand next to her side of the bed. "She doesn't seem like the type to do that."

"Eh, I can tell she's been trying to be friendlier. I guess, on earth, being antisocial isn't really an option. You have to be able to talk to  _somebody_." Karkat rolled over and turned off the light. "Well, I have to get up early tomorrow, so we should probably go to bed now."

"Yeah." Terezi scooted in and gave Karkat a kiss. "Goodnight."

"'Night."

* * *

**-3:21 am-**

Terezi shot up out of bed and turned on the light. "Babe…" Karkat groaned, sitting up. "What is it? It's three in the morning…"

"I just had another one of those dreams. I need to check on Katrina." Terezi's voice had a sense of urgency in it as she spoke.

"What dream?"

"I dreamed we were out with Katrina and I turned around and she wasn't there. I  _need_  to go check on her."

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she ran down the hallway and slammed open the door to Katrina's nursery. Terezi turned on the light and—

" _Karkat_!"

Karkat jumped up out of bed and ran into the nursery. "What is it?!"

Terezi's shaky hand slowly pointed to the crib as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Kat…rina's not…she's not there!"

Once he peeked into the crib, Karkat felt his heart drop into his stomach: Terezi was correct. The grub was nowhere to be found. A burst of cold air hit his skin—"Terezi, the window's open."

Karkat walked over to the open window and noticed a small slip of paper tucked into the windowsill. He slowly picked it up and read it.

_watch out mothafuckas ️_

His hand slowly crumpled the note as he bared his teeth. "That bitch!" he shouted, shutting the window and turning back towards Terezi.

"She's dead, Karkat!" she sobbed. "We're never going to see her again!"

"She's not dead. It'll be okay." Karkat bent down to hug his wife. "Listen, I'm going across the street to tell John and Vriska. You stay here."

Terezi sniffed. "Okay."

Karkat quickly ran across the street and began banging on the Egberts' door. After a few long minutes, a tired Feferi answered the door.

"Karkat?" she asked. "What—"

"I need to talk to John and Vriska.  _Now_."

"What happened?"

"Katrina's gone. Just go get them!"

John and Vriska's loud footsteps pounded down the stairs. "It's three in the morning, Karkat," John whined. "What is it?"

"Katrina's gone."

"What?"

Karkat handed the note to the human. Vriska peeked over John's shoulder. "That bitch!" she exclaimed, snatching the note to show Feferi.

"Vris, go get Casey's stuff together. I'm going to go call my dad."

"John, what are you doing?"

"Well, we're going to get Katrina, aren't we?"

"John!" Vriska grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. "You don't understand! Do you want all of us to get killed?!"

"Vris, if this were Casey, wouldn't  _you_  want to save her?"

"…Well, yeah, but…"

"Go get Casey's stuff together." John turned back to Karkat. "I'm calling my dad to go pick up Casey. Then we're going to rescue Katrina."

Karkat nodded. "I'll go get Terezi and make sure she's dressed." With that he ran back across the street.

"I'll get dressed as well." Feferi went back into the living room.

John whipped out his cell phone and dialed Mr. Egbert's number. "Please pick up, please pick up!" he mumbled.

"John?" his dad groaned. "It's three in the morning…what happened?"

"Dad, I need you to pick up Casey. Something's happened. I'll explain later."

"John—"

"Dad, I'm serious. Casey could get hurt. You need to come get her."

"I'll be there as quickly as I can." Mr. Egbert hung up.

Fifteen minutes later, Karkat and a sobbing Terezi were back at the Egberts' house, and a black BMW was pulling into the driveway. Mr. Egbert got out and almost immediately received Casey and her diaper bag. "What happened?" he asked John yet again.

"Let's just say Karkat and Terezi's baby might be dead now." John sighed before looking up at his dad and giving him a hug. "I love you, Dad."

"I will…see you again, right?" Mr. Egbert asked.

"I don't know." John sighed. "Anyway, we'll hopefully be back. I love you."

"I love you too, son." John's dad sadly watched as his son went back inside.

"Okay, everyone," John said, looking around. "Are we ready?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. Let's go."


	9. Operation: Rescue Katrina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Operation: Rescue Katrina becomes a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Condy hasn't really had much dialogue in Homestuck (or I need to reread Homestuck), it was kind of hard to write her character but I tried. Sorry if things get a little OOC.

**-4:09 am/somewhere on Alternia-**

"Oh, shut yo bitch-ass cryin'!" The Condesce held Katrina away from her body. "This was a  _reel_  shitty idea."

* * *

**-one hour earlier-**

"The fuck is it so quiet out here?" The Empress looked around the quiet human neighborhood before spotting her destination. "Here we are…" she laughed, walking to the house and around to the back.

She stopped when she looked at the second floor window. "A course it's so damn high…gotta start at some point."

After somehow managing to get onto the roof, the Condesce jiggled the window open and climbed into the nursery. "Okay, where is the lil'—"

Once her eyes fell upon Katrina, she stopped. "Oh, so you a fuckin' mutant?" she said, slowly reaching into the crib. "Ha, no wonder you're livin' on such a shitty planet. But—". She picked up the grub and quickly covered her mouth, but suddenly heard a noise from another room. "—ah, shit! I gotta go." The Condesce quickly climbed out the window with Katrina in her arms, dropping a small note as she fled.

* * *

**-back to present time-**

The group of five walked across the rugged Alternian landscape, searching for the place the Condesce might be. "I'm getting the feeling she's this way," Terezi told the group, abruptly changing direction.

"Terezi, we've been walking around for almost an hour!" John complained. "I'm sorry, but…I don't think we'll find her."

Terezi instantly turned around and slapped the human across the face. "Don't you  _dare_  say that," she growled, her heavy breathing slowly turning into sobs. "I'm…sorry!" she choked out, burying her face in Karkat's shoulder.

The male troll sighed, wrapping his arms around his matesprit. "Babe, we'll find her. I promise." He gave her a kiss in between her horns and closed his eyes, as he, too, was crying.

"Okay, enough with the chit-chat, let's go find Katrina." Vriska grabbed John's arm and began dragging him in the direction Terezi had suggested, the Vantases and Feferi following them.

* * *

**-20 minutes later-**

"She's in here! I swear!" Terezi whispered, motioning for everyone to follow her to the large door ahead.

"Are you sure? I don't wanna—"

"Vriska, shut up!" Karkat elbowed the cerulean-blood before Terezi began to slowly open the door.

"Finally!" a female voice exclaimed from the other side of the room. "God, I can't wait to get this lil' shit off my hands!" The Empress carelessly tossed the grub onto the ground with an exasperated sigh.

Karkat and Terezi instantly ran over to their crying daughter and scooped her into their arms. "Oh, Katrina," Terezi cried, brushing the grub's hair with her fingers. Karkat leaned down and kissed Katrina on the forehead.

He gave a piercing look at the Condesce and bared his teeth. "Why'd you do it?!" he angrily asked. "Why did you take her?!"

"Karkat," Terezi interjected, "I wouldn't—"

"Eh, it's  _reel_  simple, actually." The Empress stood up and walked over to the group. "I just needed a…lil' somethin' to help me run this place."

"But why not Feferi?!" asked Vriska suddenly, looking over at her fucsia-blooded friend. "She's the heiress, at least by blood caste!"

The Condesce scoffed. "Ha,  _that_  annoyin' bitch? Nah, I wanna start from scratch. Wanna raise one  _my_  way." She paused, stopping to walk over to the Vantases. "Or, I  _was_  gonna do that. The lil fucker's too annoyin'. Give her back when she's older."

"Well,  _excuse_  me!" Feferi rolled her eyes.

Terezi raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Y'know, when she's older. Not as annoyin'."

"But why  _her_?! There's…thousands of other grubs in the caverns, why did you have to choose  _her_?!"

"Well, her parents had enough guts to run off to a shitty planet," she replied with a sly smile. "She's gotta have some a those guts, at least. I'll be back sometime. Probably when she's an adult."

The Condesce turned around, now facing John and Vriska. "Oh, how's my great-great-granddaughter, by the way?" she asked in a sudden change of tone and speaking manner. "What's her name…Cassia, isn't it? Oh, it was so nice of you to name her after my Janey…"

Both John and Vriska furrowed their brows. "…What?" John asked, cocking his head.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you!" Everyone was confused by the Condesce's random politeness. "I'm your great-grandmother."

"But…Nanna never talked about her family…and you're a troll… How the heck is 'Crocker' a troll last name?"

The Condesce laughed. "Oh, it's not. Don't you know who I am?"

"John, we should go," Vriska whispered to her husband, tugging on his arm. "Now."

Karkat, Terezi, and Feferi looked on in confusion.

John looked up at the troll Empress now standing right in front of him. "No…?"

The Condesce bent down to be eye-level with John. "John, I'm your great-grandmother. Elizabeth Crocker."

He still didn't know who she was talking about until she whispered it in his ear.

" _Betty_  Crocker."

"Holy shit!" John exclaimed, slowly backing away from the Condesce and bumping into Vriska.

"John, we should go.  _Now_." Vriska grabbed his hand and ran out of the room, Karkat, Terezi, Katrina, and Feferi behind them.

* * *

**-5:27 am/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

"Ughhhhhhhh." John groaned and laid his head on the Vantases' kitchen table. " _Why_  do I have to be related to... _her_?"

"Oh, shut up and stop complaining!" Karkat rolled his eyes. "My kid almost  _died_ , and all you're worried about is the fact that you're the great-great-great whatever of her abductor?!"

John sighed, sitting back up. "Sorry, it's just that I'm tired, and...just  _ughhhhhhhh._ "

Vriska stood up and looked at her husband. "John, maybe we should go home. We should get some sleep, and Karkat and Terezi are probably  _extremely_  stressed right now."

"Alright, but I'm not going to school today. I have to be up in two hours." He stood up and pushed in his chair, then waved at Karkat before leaving with Vriska and Feferi.

Karkat sighed and went into the living room, where Terezi was sitting with Katrina. "Hey," he said, sitting on the couch next to his wife and daughter, "I'm sorry about all this."

"It wasn't your fault, you shouldn't be sorry!" Terezi looked down at Katrina, who was sound asleep in her arms after the night's long events. "But, I do think we need to do something about it."

"What? We can't press charges, since  _we_ might get caught, and there's-"

"I wasn't talking about that. We should probably get a security system. If someone was able to get inside the house and down the hall from us without us noticing, then we need to get one."

"Terezi...it's too expensive."

"Oh, so you're saying Katrina's  _life_  is worth less than a few thousand dollars?!"

"No, it's just... _fine._  I'll try to call a place later today." He slowly stood up. "I'm going to email my boss and tell him I'm sick. I just  _can't_  go to work off of three hours of sleep."

"Mm, alright." Terezi looked back up at Karkat. "Karkat, is it alright if she sleeps with us tonight? Or at least until we can get the security system installed?"

"Sure." Karkat bent down and kissed his wife and daughter. "Goodnight."


	10. Pupation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Katrina reaches a milestone in her life.

**-Saturday, July 22, 10:02 am/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Terezi sighed as she tiredly carried a sleeping Katrina downstairs. She and Karkat were waiting for the security system people to arrive, which would be any minute. Since the installation process would take a long time and be very loud, Terezi was planning on taking Katrina out of the house for a bit while Karkat stayed home and supervised everything.

"Good morning," Terezi yawned, sitting down at the kitchen table. She gently placed Katrina in the car seat nearby and walked over to the fridge to get some breakfast.

"Morning." Karkat set down his coffee mug and looked up from his laptop. "Did Katrina sleep all right?"

The teal-blood nodded and filled up a bowl of cereal with milk. "I'm not sure she likes being crammed in our bed with us, but tonight she'll get to sleep in her own." She paused, getting a spoon out of the silverware drawer and joining her matesprit at the kitchen table. "I was going to take her over to John and Vriska's, is that alright?"

"I don't know why you're asking me, but yeah, it's fine." Karkat stood up and looked out the window. "Oh, I think they're here now. You should probably get going."

"Shit…" Terezi quickly downed the bowl of Froot Loops and grabbed her keys before getting Katrina and her diaper bag. "Alright," she told her husband, giving him a kiss, "I'm off."

* * *

**-10:18 am/John & Vriska's house**-

Vriska sighed and let out an irritated groan as she opened the door. "Terezi," she whined, her shoulders dropping, "why do you  _always_  have to come over  _here_? I know we're friends now, I know we live across the street from each other, but you have a car! You can always—"

"Vriska, there's no need to be rude." Kanaya came out of the kitchen and joined the other two trolls, Casey in her arms. "Terezi has every right to come over here after what happened. I'd be terrified of staying there as well." The jade-blood looked up at Terezi with a forgiving expression on her face. "Vriska told me what happened. It must have been awful."

Terezi nodded in agreement and stepped over the threshold into the Egberts' home. "We're getting a security system installed to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. I knew it was going to take a long time and be loud, so I didn't want to irritate Katrina or anything. She's been so lethargic lately…" Her glance drifted down to the still-sleeping grub in the car seat. "I hope nothing's wrong…"

Vriska gave a sarcastic eye roll. "She's probably fucked up after what happened the other night—"

"Vriska!" Kanaya exclaimed.

"What- _ever_!" Vriska turned back to Kanaya and Casey. "C'mon, Casey-Peanut," she cooed, "you've spent enough time with Auntie Kanaya—"

"Why am  _I_  not Auntie Terezi?" Terezi was already irritated with Vriska, and it had only been a few minutes.

"Because." The cerulean-blood took Casey over with her to the couch, sending a signal for the others to follow her. "That would be weird."

" _Vriska_." Kanaya sternly looked at the other troll and stood back up. "We should probably go before Miss Sassy Pants decides to make things worse."

Terezi snickered. "Good idea."

* * *

**-10:57 am/Town Center Mall-**

"Did we  _have_  to go to the mall?" Vriska complained, getting Casey out of her car seat and placing her in the stroller.

Kanaya gave her friend another look and locked the car. "Where else did you think we could go?"

"True, true." The cerulean-blood began pushing the stroller towards the entrance. "I see Terezi coming."

"We'll just wait for her at the entrance," Kanaya told her.

Terezi slowly approached the three with an exhausted expression on her face. "Katrina woke up," she announced, stopping the stroller with the screaming grub inside.

"I can tell." Vriska rolled her eyes before beginning to push Casey's stroller. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

* * *

**-7:34 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

"The pass code is Katrina's birthday," Karkat told his wife. "0-5-0-9."

"Zero five zero nine," Terezi repeated. "Zero five zero nine." She walked over to the fridge and got out a pitcher of orange juice. "I should be able to remember that."

"I would hope so." Karkat paused and looked up at Terezi. "How was Vriska?"

"Good God, she was a bitch!" The teal-blood rolled her eyes and sat down at the table with her orange juice. "Eventually I just told her and Kanaya I had to be somewhere, just so I could get away from her."

"Yikes." Karkat was about to say something else, but then remembered something. "Shit, I left my keys in Katrina's nursery…I'd better go get them before I forget…I'll be right back."

He got up from the kitchen table and went upstairs and down the hall. He slowly opened the door to Katrina's nursery and flipped on the light—

"Holy shit… _Terezi_?!"

"What, what?!" Terezi groaned before going upstairs and into the nursery. "…What?"

The two parent trolls approached their daughter's crib to get a look at what was inside. Hanging from the back side of the crib was a grub-sized brownish sac that slightly resembled a butterfly chrysalis.

"So  _that's_  why she's been so tired lately!" Terezi exclaimed. "She was ready to pupate! I get it now!"

Karkat laughed. "Great. How long will this take?"

* * *

**-Thursday, August 10, 1:48 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/12 weeks old-**

Karkat took the pepperoni pizza out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. Katrina had been in her cocoon-like sac for a little over two weeks now, and her parents were beginning to wonder when she would come out. Terezi was set to go back to work on August 7th, and her classes began on the 28th, so she was wanting Katrina to pupate already so human childcare could become an option if necessary. Plus, it was almost like Katrina wasn't there.

"You know what." Terezi stood up. "I'm going to go check on Katrina."

" _Again_?" Karkat sighed. "Look, I know you're anxious for her to pupate, but you check on her literally every hour—"

"I'm going to go check on her!"

Terezi entered Katrina's nursery and walked over to the crib. Sighing, she leaned on the drop-down bar to get a look at the sac hanging from the back side. In just a short time, it had gone from brownish in color to almost transparent. Of course she couldn't really see anything, but Terezi could still make out an arm or a leg.

After staring at it for what seemed like a few minutes, Terezi could tell something was off. She could just…feel it, if that makes sense. At first she just thought her mind was playing tricks on her yet again, but then she noticed the sac beginning to twitch.

"Karkat!" she called, continuing to watch the sac. The twitches were becoming more frequent and more violent, and she was honestly afraid Katrina would pupate before Karkat got there.

"What?" Karkat looked at Terezi with an exasperated expression, but then noticed why she had called him. "Oh my god."

The two continued to watch as the former grub slowly began to poke her way through the sac. First came an arm, and then a leg, and eventually Katrina rolled out onto the mattress.

"Hi," Terezi smiled, looking from Karkat back to Katrina. The young troll squealed and rolled over to be closer to her parents.

Karkat just continued to stare at his daughter, absolutely speechless.

"Don't just stand there!" Terezi scolded, nudging her husband. "What are you doing?"

Karkat looked up at Terezi with wide eyes. "She doesn't have any clothes, does she?"


	11. Questionable Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which shit happens. To Vriska.

**-Saturday, August 19, 12:07 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/3 ½ months old-**

Terezi finished putting her earrings in and sighed in front of the mirror before smoothing out her dress. Karkat had already gotten dressed, and was in Katrina's nursery helping his daughter get ready.

"No, no, your head goes through  _this_  hole!" Karkat laughed softly and pulled Katrina's head through the largest hole in the dress. "And your arms go through these...that's it!" He pulled the tiny pink dress down and smiled. "You look beautiful, Princess."

"Karkat?" Terezi called, flipping off the bathroom light and coming out of the master bedroom and into the hallway. "Are you ready? I don't want to be late. We don't know how many people they invited…"

"Yeah!" Karkat put Katrina down on the floor before standing up, then picked her back up again. "Katrina's ready as well."

Terezi smiled when Karkat entered the hallway with Katrina. "You look gorgeous," she cooed to her daughter, then started down the stairs.

"Cole told me he and Vanessa found out they're having twins," Karkat said to Terezi.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He also said they know for sure one's a boy, but they don't know what the other one is yet."

"Wow," Terezi laughed. "I can't imagine what it would be like if Katrina turned out to be twins. I don't think we could handle that."

"Haha, no." Karkat cracked a smile before grabbing his car keys. "Alright, I think we need to get going."

* * *

**-12:42 pm/John & Vriska's house-** ****  
  
Vriska glanced at the clock as she frantically hurried to get dressed. _Fifteen minutes,_ she thought,  _fifteen minutes to get to work._

John was in Casey's nursery trying to put his daughter down for a nap. Vriska would have tried first, as always, but since she was running late there was no way she could.

"Alright!" she called, running into the hallway and down the stairs. "I'm leaving! Love you!"

"Love you too!" John called back, continuing to pat the baby on the back.

Vriska grabbed her purse and jumped in the car, then backed out of the driveway at 30 miles an hour. "I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late," she kept mumbling to herself with every corner she rounded.

After almost running a couple of red lights and nearly rear-ending a few cars, she finally pulled into the Red Dragon employee parking lot and into a space. As she ran inside she locked her car.

"I made it!" she announced with a relieved sigh, ignoring the confused stares from the other employees. She hung up her purse and quickly put on her apron before making sure her pen worked.

 _Alright, time for another shitty day at work_ , she thought before heading out of the kitchen to take a customer's order.

* * *

**-3:37 pm/Red Dragon Chinese Bistro-** ****  
  
"Alright, your order will be out soon." Vriska smiled a fake "I'm getting paid for this" smile before turning around and walking back into the kitchen.

"Vriska!" one of her coworkers called, waving get her attention. "Do you have time to chat?"

"Yeah!" The cerulean-blood walked over to the blonde and sighed. "What's up?"

Her co-worker shrugged. "I don't know, I just wanted to chat since I'm bored. How are things?"

Vriska honestly felt uncomfortable just casually chatting about her life, but this particular co-worker was pretty cool and someone she could trust. "Oh, they're…normal," she said. "I couldn't get Casey to stop crying before I had to leave, so John was a little irritated about that, but otherwise things have been pretty good."

"That's good." The blonde sighed. "Well, um…I guess I should get back to work. Talk to you later."

Vriska turned around and went to check her phone. She didn't really have anything to do until the food came out, which would be in another five minutes or so. And since it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner, only a few customers were seated in the dining area.

One new voicemail.  _"Hey Vris, I, uh, just wanted to let you know I got Casey to sleep. I'll see you this evening. Love you."_

The message had just ended when she heard someone call—"Table eleven, order up!"

"Ah, shit," Vriska mumbled to herself, locking her phone and putting it back in her purse before grabbing a tray and walking over to the kitchen window.

She carefully placed the correct plates onto the tray, double-checking the order as she went. When she had identified all the plates as correct, she picked the tray back up and proceeded to make her way out of the kitchen.

As she walked towards the door, something caught Vriska's eye. "What the—" she whispered to herself, before—

_Bang!_

_Crash!_ __  
  
"Watch it!" someone yelled, slowly pushing her soup-drenched body off of the troll. Vriska gasped, realizing what had just happened.

Soup was oozing out from between the cracks of broken bowls and onto the floor. Sweet and sour sauce covered the walls, and noodles were stuck all over everything.

"Holy shit…I'm sorry…" Vriska ran her fingers through her hair, grains of rice falling out onto the floor. She slowly stood up, staring at the awful mess on the floor.

"Were you even watching where you were going?!" the other employee screamed. "How did you even get hired here?! You obviously don't—"

"Well, excuse  _me_  for checking to make sure my table was okay!" Vriska rolled her eyes.

"You could've done that without running into me and making me drop—"

"I dropped everything too! God, I swear every single fucking thing gets blamed on me! Is it because I look different?! Is it because—"

"Girls!"

The two looked up from their squabble at a furious Mrs. Wilson-Lee. The woman was giving them a very intimidating stare, one that made the other waitress quickly stand up.

"What is all this?!" the restaurant owner angrily asked. "Are you two  _so immature_  that you'll resolve to arguing over something that was obviously both of your faults?!"

Vriska and the other waitress stared at their boss like a deer stares at headlights. They were both too scared to even make a comment.

"First things first, I want both of you to clean this up. Second, I'll see both of you in my office. Miss Sanchez, I'll see you first; Miss Egbert, I'll see you afterwards. Get to work."

Vriska sighed before doing as she was told. "How could I be so  _stupid_?" she thought as she absentmindedly swept up the remains of the dishes. She didn't dare look the other girl in the eye.

Of course the other girl left early, leaving Vriska to mop up the liquid all by herself. She didn't really mind, though; being by herself gave her some time to cool down after the incident.

A few minutes after Vriska finished, the other waitress returned. "You're next," she growled, walking past the cerulean-blood with not even so much as a glance. Vriska sighed and walked towards Mrs. Wilson-Lee's office.

"…Ma'am?" she squeaked, knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Vriska slowly opened the door and went inside her boss' office. "Sit," she told her in a voice that definitely meant business.

"Look, Mrs. Wilson-Lee, I'm sorry—"

"I know you are." The older woman sighed and crossed her arms. "Accidents happen, I know that. I forgive accidents. But…" She sighed again and looked up at Vriska. "There was no need for you to make a scene, Vriska."

" _I_  didn't make the scene, Angela did—"

" _Vriska_." Mrs. Wilson-Lee closed her eyes. "You took part in it, that's enough. It should have just been a simple 'I'm sorry', and then you girls should have cleaned it up. Easy as that."

Vriska looked down at the floor.

Mrs. Wilson-Lee let out a lengthy sigh before opening her eyes and looking back up at the troll. "Vriska, I'm going to have to let you go."

The cerulean-blood instantly looked up. "What?

The other woman sadly nodded.

"No, no, no, you can't! I have a daughter to take care of—"

"And you'd better start maturing if you want to do a good job at taking care of her. The first step in maturing is accepting a job loss and going to find a new one."

"But…how am I supposed to tell my husband? He's at college half the day and only works a few hours, there's no way only he can support us—"

"Then I suggest you get it together and go find yourself a new job." Mrs. Wilson-Lee paused. "Your last paycheck should arrive next week."

Vriska sadly nodded. "…Thank you." She began to slowly walk towards the door, but stopped. "…Wait."

"Yes?"

The words slipped between Vriska's lips so quickly she didn't even catch them. Mrs. Wilson-Lee sighed before cracking a smile and uttering two words:

"Good luck."

Vriska ran to her car and started it before bursting into sobs. She felt useless. The one thing she was finally becoming good at, the one thing that told her "you can buy this shirt if you want to"—all gone. Thanks to some stupid waitress who didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.

She looked down at her clothes. Her pants were sticky and gross, and her shirt reeked of chicken broth. Her hair still had grains of rice sprinkled throughout the ponytail, which she quickly undid.

"I'm so fucking stupid!" she screamed, banging her head against the steering wheel several times. Mrs. Wilson-Lee's words still echoed through her head _—"I suggest you get it together and go find yourself a new job."_ __  
  
Vriska sniffed before she choked out a laugh. "No place'll wanna hire me looking like this, huh?"

* * *

**-4:26 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

"You're home early!" John exclaimed, suddenly remembering his daughter. "Oh, Casey's still asleep," he told his wife, quickly lowering his voice. "Oh my god…what happened?"

Vriska scoffed. "I got fired."

John felt his heart drop to his stomach and his eyes widened. "…What?" he asked, his heart racing. "No, no, Vris, you couldn't have gotten fired—"

"Well, I did. I'm gonna go take a shower, and then go out and find myself a new job."

"Vriska—" John started to go after his wife, but it would be of no use. At least she was determined to find another job, and he didn't want to talk her out of that.

* * *

**-6:39 pm/Vriska's car-**

She hated to admit it, but Vriska was ready to give up.

She had driven all around town, looking for a business with a "help wanted" sign in the window. She had caught a few, but they definitely weren't anything she was interested in—they would be the last choice if she didn't find anything more appealing. But even after going inside a few places to personally ask if they were hiring, everyone had said something like "We have enough employees" or "We have enough help". It was really frustrating.

The minutes continued to tick by, but suddenly she had an idea.

John would definitely be unhappy with it.

But it was an idea.

And she would make money.

A whole lot more money than what she had been making.

Vriska drove into the parking lot and quickly parked her car—she had to make this quick before the Saturday night crowd came in. She ran up to the back entrance and began banging on the door.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" a female voice called from inside. Vriska could hear a few things crash around before the door finally opened.

She came face-to-face with a plump woman with hair as black as her own. "Yes?" the lady grunted, giving Vriska a confused look.

"Um…I was wondering if you're hiring, by any chance?"

The woman stared Vriska up and down before saying anything. "Yeah, come on in."

Vriska entered the building and was instantly met with the stares of girls who looked about her age. The woman jerked her back to keep her from going any further inside. "This is…"

"…Vriska," the troll finished for her. She hoped her face wasn't turning blue; she didn't want to give anything away, but she sure was embarrassed.

"This is Vriska," the woman repeated. "She wants to get a job here, and I think she's cut out for it. What do you girls think?"

Vriska felt extremely uncomfortable with so many pairs of eyes on her, but she knew what had to be done.

"What's your bra size?" one of the girls suddenly asked.

"Um…38 DD," Vriska answered.

"Real or fake?"

"Real…?"

"How much do you weigh?"

"Um…about 150?"

"Too much." A girl with hot pink hair and a lip piercing scoffed. "I can tell you need to lose a few inches around your waist, too."

"But…my doctor says I'm perfectly healthy…" Vriska was confused. What were these girls going for?

The woman smiled and turned back towards the girls. "So, what do you girls think? Should we hire her?"

The girls scoffed before one stepped forward and said, "Come back when you're skinnier."


	12. A Serious Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vriska tells Kanaya a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major trigger warnings for eating disorders in this chapter. I know that kind of gives it away, but I'd rather you guys be safe!!

**-Sunday, August 20, 12:48 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

" _Too much."_

" _You need to lose a few inches around your waist."_

" _Come back when you're skinnier."_

The words continued to repeat over and over inside Vriska's head, and it was beginning to make her extremely upset. She couldn't tell John about it, because she had decided she wouldn't announce her new career unless she got the job. And she knew she should just ignore the comments, but it was hard to do since she needed the job so badly.

She had thought she looked fine before those girls decided to tell her otherwise! And she couldn't help that everything was going to her stomach now! It just wasn't fair!

But she  _needed_  to get that job.

Vriska set the sandwich she was halfway eating back down on the plate. "No," she whispered as she slowly slid the plate away from her.

* * *

**-Tuesday, September 5, 2:30 pm/John & Vriska's house/4 months old-**

It had been two weeks since Vriska had began her so-called "diet", and she was miserable. Since she had gone so long without eating any real foods, the only things she had been able to stomach were water, salad, yogurt, and the occasional cheese stick. Although she felt awful, she had very quickly dropped almost 15 pounds and was definitely looking skinnier. John had definitely noticed, but whenever he asked, Vriska had assured him she was fine.

Kanaya was off work that day, so Vriska had invited her over yet again to keep herself and Casey company. She had been coming over quite often since her friend was fired, and had definitely noticed the new behavior. The jade-blooded troll was due to arrive any minute, so Vriska was trying to clean the kitchen as fast as she could while Casey was still asleep.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, which awakened Casey upstairs. "Goddammit Kanaya," Vriska mumbled under her breath, "how many times do I have to tell you to  _knock_?!"

Despite her frustration, she threw away the Clorox wipe and went to answer the door. "Hey," she sighed, stepping to the side to let Kanaya in. "I'll be right back, I need to try to get Casey back to sleep." Without waiting for a response, the cerulean-blood went upstairs.

Several minutes passed before Vriska was able to successfully put her daughter to sleep. "Sorry about that," she told Kanaya. "Could you knock next time?"

"I'll try." Kanaya sighed before setting her purse down. "Vriska...we need to talk."

"Okay…?" Vriska cocked her head; Kanaya's tone told her it was about something important. "I guess we could sit down on the couch?"

The two adult trolls quietly made their way into the living room and sat down next to each other on the couch. "What?" Vriska irritatedly asked. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Vriska…" Kanaya let out a concerned sigh. "I'm worried about you."

"Why?"

"You're just...not acting like you normally would."

"Kanaya." Vriska rolled her eyes. "I lost my fucking job a couple weeks ago! Of course I'm not acting normal!"

"I'm not talking about that, it's…" The other troll paused for a long moment. "Oh, it seems I've lost my train of thought."

"See? It must not be important then." Vriska crossed her arms and slumped down into the couch cushions.

Sure, Kanaya had been the one who had comforted her most of her life. She was always someone she could turn to for help—they were moirails, after all. But she could definitely be a "meddley meddler meddlefriend" at times, and it really bugged Vriska.

"Wait!" Kanaya exclaimed, suddenly perking up. "I remembered! Well, it's just that you've...um, how do I put this nicely…" She paused. "You've seemed much more emotional lately. I mean, more likely to get irritated at tiny things, or pointing out things that don't matter… And you're not eating, Vriska. That's the most important one."

The blue-blooded troll rolled her eyes. "Why do you care? This isn't the first time it's happened."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about, Vriska!" Kanaya accidentally raised her voice and blushed. "I don't want you to pass out again! You were very lucky I was there and saw you!"

"Kanaya, I'm  _fine_! I know what I'm doing!"

"Vriska, if you want to lose weight, you should go on a diet instead of starving yourself."

"I  _am_  on a diet. A minimal eating one."

" _Vriska_."

"Alright!" Vriska threw her hands up in the air as if she were surrendering. "I'm starving myself. Are you happy?!"

Kanaya sighed yet again, staring her moirail straight in the eyes. "I can tell something else is wrong."

"What?"

"Vriska, you're not telling me something. I can tell."

"I already told you I'm not eating, what else is there?!"

The jade blood grabbed Vriska's shoulders. "Vriska, this is important. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore."

Vriska sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. But this is super-super secret. No one else knows but me. Not even John. And please,  _please_  don't tell him, alright? I'll tell him when I'm ready to. Okay?"

"Okay. I promise." Kanaya removed her hands from Vriska's shoulders.

"Well…" Vriska couldn't finish the sentence. She broke eye contact with Kanaya and quickly looked down at the floor.

"Vriska?"

The cerulean-blood slowly looked back up at Kanaya.

"Kanaya, I'm pregnant."


	13. Unexpected Yet Expected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the expected yet unexpected happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I guess there's a trigger warning for eating disorders and abortion.
> 
> Also I'll fix the HTML in the Pesterlog later. Something happened to it.

Kanaya let out a lengthy sigh and closed her eyes, taking in the news she was just given. "And how far along are you?" she calmly asked before looking back up at Vriska.

"Fourteen weeks."

The jade-blooded troll sighed again. 'Vriska, why haven't you told John?" she questioned. "This isn't just something you can shrug off. This is a living being growing inside of you, not just some secret that you can dispose of at any time."

"That's what I've been trying to do," Vriska squeaked.

"What?" Kanaya was shocked. Did Vriska mean what she thought she meant? "What do you mean?"

"Kanaya, I seriously don't want this baby. More than I didn't want Casey." Vriska had lots of uncertainty and sadness in her voice. "I can't do this a second time. Not this soon. That's why I haven't told John—I've been trying to get rid of it before he finds out."

"Vriska, why are you just now telling me this?!" Kanaya yelled, taking her moirail's hand up in hers. "Please tell me you've been trying to find a safe way to abort! Is that why you're not eating?"

The cerulean-blood sadly shook her head. "No, I'm not eating because I'm too fat to apply for a job."

"That's insane! What kind of place won't hire someone because of how they look?!" When Vriska didn't respond, Kanaya realized what kind of job she was talking about. "Oh, no, oh my god, Vriska, don't tell me you applied for a job at a gentlemen's club?!"

Vriska's lips quivered as she quietly choked out a "yes". Kanaya realized her friend was crying, and proceeded to pull her in for a hug.

"If you're not trying to get rid of the baby by not eating," Kanaya said, "then…how _were_ you trying to get rid of it?"

Vriska quietly sobbed before looking up at her moirail. "There's a bloody coat hanger in the trash can outside, if that answers your question."

"Vriska!" Kanaya gasped. "Oh, my god. Vriska, we need to get you some help."

"I don't need help, I need to get rid of this baby and get myself a job!"

"But you're doing it in the absolute worst and most unsafe way possible!" Kanaya sighed again. "You _need_ to tell John about this. I'm sure he'll understand and will support you no matter what."

"I don't want him to be upset with me, that's all!"

"Well, he'll be even _more_ upset if you don't tell him! This is extremely serious!"

"I'll tell him when I want to tell him." Vriska sniffed. "It probably won't be until I manage to get rid of the stupid thing, though…"

"Vriska, if you won't tell him, then I'll tell him." Kanaya gave the cerulean-blood a stern look.

Vriska scoffed. "You wouldn't."  
________________________________________

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling ectoBiologist [EB] —

EB: kanaya?   
EB: what are you doing?   
GA: John  
EB: kanaya  
GA: Stop That  
GA: Anyway I Just Came Back From Visiting With Vriska  
EB: so?   
EB: you guys do that all the time.   
GA: This Time She Told Me Some Very Important Things  
GA: Things You Need To Hear  
GA: She Said She Didnt Want You To Find Out But Im Doing It To Protect Her  
EB: okay?   
EB: what is it  
GA: Have You Realized She Hasnt Been Eating Lately  
GA: Shes Doing It On Purpose To Lose Weight  
EB: god, not again!   
EB: ughhhhhhhh!   
EB: thanks for telling me, i guess.   
GA: Theres Another Thing As Well  
GA: Something More Important Than Not Eating  
EB: yeah?   
GA: Vriska Told Me Shes Pregnant  
EB: haha. very funny.   
EB: she would have told me already if she were really pregnant.   
GA: Thats The Thing  
GA: She Doesnt Want You To Know  
GA: She Says She Doesnt Want A Second One  
EB: listen, kanaya, i have to go  
EB: i'll be sure to talk to vris about it, alright?

\--ectoBiologist [EB] has disconnected—  
________________________________________

**-4:37 pm/John's car-**

Even though he didn't seem like it, John was freaking out.

Kanaya had to be lying! There was _no_ way Vriska could be pregnant! When she had found out she was pregnant with Casey, the first thing she had done was call John and tell him—surely she wouldn't have kept a second one a secret!

Then again, she had been acting strange lately. The not eating, the being really irritated and hormonal—some of it just didn't add up. If she were _really_ pregnant, why would she be starving herself? She would only starve herself if she wanted to—

_No._

_Oh no._

_Oh god._

He finally realized what was going on. Vriska wasn't eating because she was trying to deprive the baby of nutrients, which would…kill it.

She was trying to force a miscarriage.

 _I need to get home_ right now, he thought, speeding up a bit and moving over into the next lane. _Oh, I hope Vriska's okay!_

He rushed home and pulled into the driveway, quickly grabbing his stuff before slamming the car door and running inside. "Vris?" he called, dropping his things. "We need to talk!"

It was just then he noticed Casey screaming upstairs. She sounded like she was in lots of distress—something was off.

"Vris?" John called again. He was torn between calming down his daughter and finding Vriska. Wait, maybe Vriska was upstairs trying to calm her down?

The brunet quickly ran upstairs and into his daughter's nursery. Nope, no Vriska. He picked up Casey and began patting her on the back. This was strange. Surely Vriska would have heard her crying! There wouldn't be a reason for her not to—

"Shit!" John yelled, taking Casey with him as he flew down the staircase and into the kitchen. It was as he feared: Vriska was lying on the kitchen floor, totally unconscious—almost a total repeat of what had happened over a year ago.

"Ugh!" he groaned, whipping out his cell phone. There were too many things to be taken care of at once! He needed to call an ambulance to take care of Vriska, but he also needed to get Casey calmed down, and call his dad to come get her, and—what if the ambulance got there first? He'd need Karkat or Terezi or someone to watch Casey until his dad got there, and—it literally made him cry.

After some hesitation and sticking a bottle in Casey's mouth, he was on the phone with 911, who was sending an ambulance their way. The dispatcher wouldn't let him disconnect until the ambulance arrived, so he grabbed Vriska's phone off the kitchen counter and called Karkat.

"What?" the mutant-blood growled. "Katrina's taking a nap; I don't have time to do whatever it is you want me to do!"

"Karkat, shut up. This is important. Vriska could die. I need you to get your ass over here and watch Casey until my dad gets here, alright? Katrina can sacrifice a nap for this."

Karkat didn't really know how to respond, so he hung up and rushed to get his daughter over across the street with him. The ambulance still hadn't arrived when he got there, so John almost shoved Casey into the troll's free arm before continuing to talk to the 911 dispatcher. Karkat just went along with it and went to sit down on the couch with the girls.

A few minutes later sirens were heard outside, and the paramedics began to make their way inside the house. They were a little surprised at Vriska's appearance, but just went along with it since she was in serious trouble. The paramedics began loading the cerulean-blood onto the stretcher and John went to go tell Karkat a few things before he left.

"My dad should be here any minute," he told the troll. "Until he gets here, just watch Casey, alright? She should be fine, but if she needs anything, there's baby food in the pantry, bottles in the fridge, and you know where her nursery is." Karkat didn't have any time to respond before John looked around. "Alright, well, I have to go. Text me when my dad gets here, okay?"

And with that, the Egberts were off to the hospital.


	14. Conversations in the Emergency Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which John finds out some things he'd rather not hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get to this, I must warn you all that the next few chapters are pretty dramatic. So dramatic I've gotten feedback that I've exhausted the plot line, made characters OOC, and stuff like that. (The feedback I've gotten overall has been positive, though.) Just a warning.

**-4:52 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

"No, no, Princess, be nice." Karkat snatched the wooden block from Katrina's hands and gave it back to Casey. "Casey had it first. You need to wait your turn before taking it."

To be honest, Karkat had no idea how he was doing it. Ever since he'd found out he was going to be a dad, things had…changed. He rarely got angry or irritated and had barely dropped a curse. He was sure all his old friends—Sollux, Eridan, even Gamzee—would laugh at him if they found out what he had been up to lately.

Even when he and Terezi were engaged, he'd thought about having kids—not seriously, of course, since he was still new to the idea of someone being raised by their genetic parents. He'd just laughed the idea off— _If we had a kid, his first word would be "fuck," that's for sure._  But he began to think about it more seriously after two months of marriage—the second he walked into the bathroom and saw Terezi shaking with fear, holding the prematurely delivered eggs. He remembered watching his matesprit silently sob as he dug a small hole next to a bush, and watching her fight back tears as she gently placed the shoebox into the makeshift grave—the first time a troll had buried their dead in sweeps. It was then he had made up his mind: He and Terezi  _were_  going to become parents at some point.

And he remembered the time that "some point" came. Terezi ran squealing into the kitchen, waving the positive pregnancy test in the air, announcing "We're having a grub!" to her husband. As the weeks passed, he'd joke around with Terezi every time she complained about her growing stomach and clothes not fitting. Every night before going to bed he'd talk to the egg growing in his wife's stomach, tickling it and making Terezi laugh before finally kissing her stomach goodnight and rolling back over. He was overjoyed the moment Terezi smiled with her eyes and told him "It's a girl." The time Katrina hatched, the time she said her first word (which was "Dada", by the way), the time she climbed out of her chrysalis and smiled up at her parents—every single moment had been one of the best moments of his still-ongoing life.

The front door suddenly opened, making Karkat jump and look up. John's dad entered with a sigh, tossing his briefcase, hat, and suit aside, and stopped when he looked up at Karkat. "Hello," he nervously said, deciding to come into the living room and sit down with the group. Mr. Egbert still held a slight grudge against the Vantases, after he found out John was lying to him about them just so they could get some money, but he knew he should have let it go a long time ago.

"Um…hi, sir…" Karkat felt the same way, sort of. He felt almost intimidated by the man, even though someone who had raised an honest person like John wouldn't be so hardhearted. "Um…I'm still sorry about taking money from you…"

"Karkat, don't be. That was several years ago; I understand now." The older man reached out and picked up his granddaughter, sitting her down in his lap. "What have you been doing here?"

"John asked me to watch Casey until you got here. And you're here, so…I guess I'll go now—"

"You can stay a bit; I don't mind. The girls are playing, anyway." Mr. Egbert watched as Katrina crawled over and handed Casey a stuffed spider. "How old is she again?"

"She'll be four months old on the 9th," Karkat told him.

" _Only_  four months?! She's as big as Casey!" John's dad paused. "Forgive me, what's her name again?"

"Katrina."

"Katrina," Mr. Egbert repeated. "Can she talk?"

Karkat nodded. "Right now just the simple things, 'Mama,' 'Dada,' 'food'… And of course, the expected baby babble."

"…I see. Trolls must be different from humans." Mr. Egbert let Casey crawl out of his lap and watched as she pulled herself into a standing position on the coffee table. "Vriska won't explain everything to me; would you mind doing that? I'm still not used to this whole 'aliens are real' thing…"

The mutant-blooded troll coughed. "Well, to be honest…I have no idea how this works, either. Back on our home planet, all of us came from a surrogate mother, basically."

"Wait— _all_ of you? You, Vriska, Terezi, all came from the same mother?"

"Not genetically, at least I hope not. This probably sounds kind of gross, but every so often we had to donate, uh…'genetic material' which would become the new grubs. Once they hatched, only a handful survived, and out of those who survived grubhood, only a handful managed to become trolls."

John's dad was silent; he didn't really know how to react. "…So what happens if one survives?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Instead of parents, trolls have lusii. They're kind of like parents, I guess. But if your lusus dies, then you die. On Alternia, if you're different in any way, you're killed. That's why Terezi and I decided to come here—she's blind and I'm a mutant. We would be dead already if we had stayed."

Karkat could tell Mr. Egbert was uncomfortable, so he took it as his chance to leave. "Well, um…Terezi's probably home now, so…we should go." He quickly picked up his daughter and left the Egberts' house without a word.

* * *

**-5:58 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

John sighed and sat up when he heard the curtain begin to slide open. This was probably the doctor coming back with the test results he had told John he would run about twenty minutes earlier.

"Well, Mr. Egbert," the doctor said to John, "your wife  _is_  definitely pregnant. However, we'll have to do an ultrasound to determine exactly how far along she is."

John nodded. "What about the other tests?" he asked. "Did you find anything else?"

"Well, it looks like she also has anemia." The doctor paused. "And, judging by what else we found in her blood, it looks like she hasn't eaten in at least 48 hours."

"48 hours?! Wow…" The brunet sighed and rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Has she struggled with eating disorders in the past? What do you think could be her motivation?"

"Well…she did have anorexia about a…year and a half ago, when she was pregnant with our daughter, but she got over it pretty quickly—"

"Do you think being pregnant might be in connection with the eating disorders?" The doctor scribbled some things down on his clipboard before looking back up at John. "Do you know what exactly triggered the anorexia last time?"

"Um…well, we were engaged then; she was worried about not fitting into her wedding dress. But..this time, I don't know why else she wouldn't be eating other than—" He hesitated, but he knew he had to tell the doctor all that was going on. "—other than wanting to get rid of the baby."

"If you already have a daughter, then why wouldn't she want this one?"

"I don't…know." John sighed. "What are you going to do to help her?"

The doctor looked back down at his clipboard before giving John an answer. "Well, she'll have to stay here until she gains enough weight to be considered healthy, and we'll have to prescribe her an iron pill to help with the anemia. We'll also put her in counseling to help her with the eating disorder, and continue to monitor the fetus to make sure it's healthy as well."

Another doctor, this time a lady, came in, wheeling a piece of machinery John recognized to be ultrasound equipment. "Hi, I'm Dr. Larkin, the OB-GYN here," she said to John. "I just need to get a real quick ultrasound and then we'll be able to move your wife to a room, alright?"

"Okay."

John carefully watched as the female doctor lifted Vriska's shirt and squirted the gel onto her stomach. It was then he realized she actually looked pregnant—not very far along, but he could tell she was. The wand was moved around her stomach and an image appeared on the monitor.

"It looks like she's…about fourteen or fifteen weeks along," she told John, staring at the tiny grey blob. "Just a few more weeks and I'd be able to tell whether it's a boy or a girl!" She laughed before looking back to the monitor. "Everything looks alright, I don't see any bleeding or anything…"

"Good." John sighed before standing up; some nurses were coming in to move Vriska to an actual room. Dr. Larkin switched off the machine and gently wiped the gel off Vriska's stomach.

"When she wakes up, I'll need to ask her some questions," the woman sternly told John. "It's important that she doesn't try to harm the fetus. If she doesn't want it, then we'll discuss adoption or a safe abortion, alright?"

John nodded and began to gather his things. He hated to admit it, but…he was extremely angry with Vriska. Why didn't she just talk to him about it? Why did she have to harm their baby in one of the worst ways possible? Whatever her motive was, he knew he had to talk to her about it as soon as she woke up.

* * *

**-6:28 pm-**

All Vriska could see when she opened her eyes were a blur of colors.

She had no idea where she was, or what had just happened. She felt extremely weak and was shivering uncontrollably and she had no idea why.

She tried her best to sit up, but only fell back onto the pillows after trying to do so. Now that she was awake, she could hear something…it was almost like the whirring of a machine. Wait, it  _was_  the whirring of a machine.

"Oh. You're awake." That  _had_  to be John's voice. The human sighed, setting the book he was reading on a nearby table.

"What…happened? Where am I?" Vriska asked, reaching up to rub her eyes. An IV cord was coming out of her wrist, and she could feel the cold medication dripping into her veins.

"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant, Vriska?" John tried to swallow the knot in his throat, holding back tears. "You're almost fifteen weeks along. In a few more weeks, we'll get to find out what it is."

"John…"

"Why?!" The brunet suddenly jumped out of his chair. "Why did you try to hide it from me, Vriska?! I don't understand why you'd want to! This is our  _child_  we're talking about, why didn't you want to tell me about it?!"

"I'm…I'm not ready for another one, John." Vriska rubbed her freezing arms and broke eye contact with her husband. "Casey's not even a year old yet; I was wanting to wait until she was at least two before even considering another…"

"But we're having another baby already, so why can't you just accept that?!"

"Maybe I don't want another baby, John!" Vriska raised her voice a considerable amount. "Maybe I'm fine with—with Casey being an only child! Maybe I don't want to go through another nine months of eating fifty pounds worth of food a day, being freakishly hormonal, having to pee every half hour, puking my guts out every morning, maybe I just don't want to be pregnant again!" She let out a long sigh and crossed her arms.

John slowly nodded. "I understand," he told his wife. "I understand how much of a selfish bitch you actually are."

Before Vriska could deliver her defense, the door opened and the doctor walked in.

John quickly grabbed his bag and stood up with an irritated sigh. "I'll be back tomorrow," he told Vriska disinterestedly.

"Okay," Vriska squeaked. "I love you."

There was no response.


	15. The Story of My Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vriska talks about her feelings.

**-Wednesday, September 6, 8:19 am/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

The next morning, Vriska woke up to someone in her hospital room. A nurse wheeled a small cart over by the bed and began to mess with the IV pole. "I'm just changing out your medication," the woman told her, unhooking the IV cord from the old bag and inserting it into the new one.

Once the nurse was finished, she placed the empty IV bag on top of the cart and began to leave the room. "Someone should be here with your breakfast shortly," she told the troll, closing the door as she left the room.

Vriska sighed. Not this shit again, she thought, remembering the first time she had been hospitalized with an eating disorder. Even though she had only stayed for a week that time, it felt like a month since there was nothing to do. And this time, she wasn't sure if John would even visit that often.

Ten minutes later, another hospital employee entered the room with Vriska's breakfast. After responding with an unenthusiastic "thank you", the cerulean-blood uncovered the platter and sighed. Eggs, bacon, Cheerios, orange juice…disgusting. It was all disgusting. Disgusting to look at, disgusting smelling…it was all just disgusting to Vriska. She knew she was expected to eat, but she didn't  _have_  to. So she didn't.

About half an hour passed before anyone came into the room. "Are you finished?" a male nurse asked, entering with a cart full of dirty dishes. He saw Vriska's full plate of food on the tray and sighed. "Ma'am, I have instructions not to bring your lunch until you're finished with breakfast," he told her with a sigh.

"Good." The cerulean-blood refused to look up at him and continued to stare at the sheets.

"Ma'am…" The nurse sighed again. "I'll have to get your doctor if you won't eat."

"Do whatever you have to." Maybe if she was stubborn enough, everyone would leave her alone.

The nurse shrugged and began pushing the cart towards the door. "Your doctor will be here shortly," he told her with an irritated grunt.

Vriska couldn't help but smirk. It had been only a couple of hours in on day one, and she'd already managed to piss off a hospital employee. If she kept it up, maybe the hospital would decide to send her home…

* * *

**-12:30 pm/University of Washington, Seattle campus-**

Swinging his backpack onto his back, John let out an exhausted sigh. Only a few weeks in, and his human anatomy class was already boring him to death. Even worse, they had just started a new unit, which was—of course—fetal development. And all he could think about was Vriska.

Sure, he knew it was Vriska's body, not his, and she could choose do to whatever she wanted with it. But it still made him upset. If they weren't married, the idea of her getting an abortion would have been easier to grasp, but… They had been married about a year and a half and had an almost one-year-old daughter. They'd already started a family, so why end it so soon?

John honestly felt kind of guilty about it.  _Why do I care more about my unborn child_   _than my wife?_  he thought, almost running into someone before quickly dodging them and exiting the building.

"Hey, Egderp!"

 _Oh, god_ , John thought, rolling his eyes and sighing. It looked like the guys were never going to stop calling him that, no matter how hard he tried or how polite he was.

He tried ignoring them, but that was of no use. "Listen, Dylan, Luke, I really don't have time for this—"

"Hey, why don't we hit up Taco Bell across the street, hang out for lunch, you could give me your homework to copy off of…"

John instantly spotted someone who might help him get out of the situation. "Hey, Terezi!" he called, waving his hand to get her attention. The teal-blooded troll spotted him and instantly ran over to join the group.

"What's up?" Terezi asked casually, rocking back and forth on her feet. She could tell those guys were bothering John, so she wanted to try to find a way to  _politely_  tell them to…well, to fuck off.

Luke scoffed. "Egderp, this is your wife, right?" he asked, giving Terezi a suggestive eyebrow raise.

Terezi felt her face get hot. "No, no, I'm just…a friend."

John laughed. "Yeah, we're just friends, guys. My wife, she's…" He sighed. He wasn't comfortable telling these guys about his problems, so he just made something up. "…at home."

"If you say so." Dylan looked around before turning back to John. "Aight, I'm gonna get to lunch."

* * *

**-12:48 pm/Taco Bell-**

"Dude." Dylan laughed, setting down his taco. "That chick was  _hot_."

"Bro, chill. What if she has a boyfriend or something?" Luke rolled his eyes.

"You don't know that!" The other guy paused. "I'm gonna ask her out."

"How do you know she likes you?"

"Aw, man, shut the fuck up. They all like me." Dylan laughed again and took a sip of his Dr. Pepper as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm gonna date her. Trust me. I'll find a way."

* * *

**-3:41 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

"Ms. Egbert?" a nurse asked, knocking on the door.

Vriska sat up in bed, absolutely exhausted. After refusing to eat that morning, the doctor literally had to force her to eat, which took a very long time with a lot of struggling involved. And after she ate, she had an ultrasound to check on the baby she didn't even want.

"Yeah?" she groaned, watching the nurse come inside of the room.

"It's time for your counseling session," she told her.

 _Counseling_? Why wasn't she informed of this counseling? She really didn't want to go back to that hellhole to talk about her "feelings".

"Ms. Egbert?" the nurse asked again, nodding towards the wheelchair she had been pushing. "Do you need help?"

"I've got it, I've got it." Vriska sighed as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed her IV pole. She slowly walked over to the wheelchair and plopped down in the seat, waiting for the nurse to transfer her IV medication to the wheelchair.

The nurse began wheeling the troll out of the hospital room and down the long, dark hallway. Vriska hated this place. Since she was pregnant, couldn't they at  _least_  have put her in the maternity ward, where it was brighter and more pleasant? But  _no_ , since she wasn't in there for pregnancy-related reasons, she  _had_  to be in the old, boring, depressing area.

Finally they reached the same counseling room Vriska had been to last time. The nurse knocked on the door and waited for a familiar "come in" before opening the door and wheeling the patient inside.

"Hello Vriska," the counselor, Mary, sighed, looking up from the folded of papers she was given. "Looks like we're back to square one."

Vriska had no response other than an irritated grunt.

Mary sighed and looked back down at her papers. "Well then. Let's start different from last time, shall we?" The older brown-haired woman leaned her elbows on the table. "Tell me about your childhood."

The cerulean-blood just sat there. She was thinking of how to tell the basics of the story in the most human-friendly way possible.

"Vriska?"

"I had an abusive mother," she blankly told the woman. "She didn't give a single  _shit_  about me. Not  _one_."

"Oh, that must have been so hard." Mary have Vriska a sympathetic look, despite being kind of scared.

"Dad was never in the picture from the second Mom told him she was pregnant," Vriska continued, "it was just me and Mom. That bitch couldn't do  _anything_  for herself; I had to do it all for her. It was almost like  _I_  was her mom, instead of the other way around. It sucked."

Mary wrote some things down on a notepad and looked back up. "What about your friends?" she asked. "Were your friends any better?"

Vriska thought for a moment. "I'm not really sure you could call them 'friends', but yeah, there were people I hung out with. There was this one boy, Tavros, who I kind of liked, but kind of hated at the same time. He's really shy and gets flustered easily and stutters a lot, but I guess he's pretty nice once you get past that. Oh, and this other guy, Equius, I'm not really sure if we were friends, but he's done some nice things for me. He's always been polite, and we were neighbors back where I used to live.

"Oh, and there's Kanaya. She's a lesbian, and we almost dated at one point—I'm bi, in case you needed to know that. Kanaya's always been like my mother, except she's my age. She's probably the most friendiest friend I have.

"And Terezi. We were really good friends when we were really little. We used to play together, and dress up, and…I just hate I had to ruin our friendship so badly."

"How'd you do that?" the counselor asked, writing in her notepad yet again.

"Well—" Vriska swallowed the knot in her throat before continuing. "—we used to…roleplay, I guess. More like live-action roleplaying—LARPing, if you will. It was me and Terezi on one team, Team Scourge, and Tabros and another girl named Aradia on Team Charge. Anyway, we were LARPing one day, and…I dared Tavros to jump. Off a cliff. And when he wouldn't do it, I pushed him."

Mary let out an audible gasp and was about to say something, but decided to let Vriska finish she story before commenting.

"Anyway, he didn't die, thankfully, but he  _was_  paralyzed from the waist down. After the incident, Aradia hated me and Terezi did too. She created some crazy plan to get back at me, but it didn't really work. Even so, I was really pissed at her, and…made her look at the sun."

"Okay?" Mary didn't really know how looking at the sun was all that bad.

"Terezi has—well, had—really sensitive eyes, Mary, and I knew that. So I blinded her. She can't see anymore because of me, and Tavros can't walk anymore because of me."

Mary didn't know what to say. "So, um…how are your current relationships with these people?"

"Oh, um…" Vriska paused. "Tavros is still nervous around me, but he visited me when I was pregnant with Casey, and things were fine then. Oh, and everything's fine with Terezi. We actually live across the street from each other. She's married, has a daughter…oh, and she's studying to be a lawyer. We're cool now."

The counselor sighed and looked back up at Vriska. "And…no one pressed any charges against you?"

Vriska shook her head. "Where I'm from, you don't press charges. If something bad happens to you, you either seek revenge or suck it up. I'm surprised I'm not dead yet.

Mary let out a lengthy exasperated sigh. "I don't know what to say about all that."

"I'm surprised my husband even wanted to marry me," Vriska laughed.

"Oh, your husband!" Mary exclaimed. "Tell me about your husband."

Vriska softly chuckled. "Oh, this is gonna be a long one…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, god. Um, uh... This was an awkward one to write. I had to change a few plot points and rearrange the order of things in Vris's backstory, if that makes sense. Maybe I will elaborate more in later chapters? I don't know...


	16. Too Short

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vriska finds out life is too short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of dark...in fact, the next few chapters are kind of dark...

**-Friday, September 8, 4:09 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

Day four, and Vriska was as bored as ever.

The doctor decided it would be best to keep her resources limited after the refusing to eat incident, so they took away her laptop and phone, leaving her with no electronics besides the TV. Thankfully, John had been so generous as to go to Walmart and but a cheap prepaid flip phone for his wife to use while she was in the hospital, so Vriska could still talk to people.

And since there was nothing for her to do except watch TV, Vriska had gone down to the hospital library and picked up a book on finger knitting. After convincing John to buy her some yarn, she had begun to knit a scarf for Casey, since her birthday was coming up.

Casey's birthday… Shit. What if Vriska didn't get out in time for her own daughter's first birthday? Now that she thought about it, she  _had_  to make enough improvement in ten days to be released. Gaining two pounds was  _some_  improvement, but she still needed to gain eight more to be released.

Visiting hours had just opened, and Vriska had no idea who to expect. John had mentioned his dad and his grandparents wanted to visit her, so she had been sure to mentally prepare herself for that.

Vriska heard a knock on the door and sat up. "Come in," she said, setting her knitting down for a moment.

The door opened and Kanaya walked in. "Hi," the jade-blooded troll smiled, grabbing a chair and pulling it up next to the side of the hospital bed. "I thought I'd come visit you today."

"That's fine. I'm bored as shit in here, Kanaya." Vriska laughed and looked down at her knitting. "The doctor took my laptop and phone away, so I decided to pick up finger knitting."

"Why would they do that?"

"They think I'll find some way to not eat or look up things like that." Vriska rolled her eyes. "So, I can only watch TV or knit. One of the two."

Kanaya nodded in understandment and looked down at the floor. "So…" she nervously said, "how's the baby?"

Vriska sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "It's okay," she told her moirail. "I met with a counselor and I decided I want to put it up for adoption, since I won't be able to get an abortion without messing up anything down there."

"That's…good." The other troll tried to crack a smile. "You still have a good bit until the baby comes, so you'll have plenty of time to change your mind if you want."

"Nah," Vriska sighed. "I can't do it again, Kanaya. I can't. Besides, this baby will have a much better chance having someone else taking care of it. I can't do shit." She gently moved her hand to her stomach and rested it there. "I can already feel it, Kanaya. It doesn't feel as great as Casey did."

"This is your second child, Vriska. Of course it won't feel as special as the first one."

"Kanaya…I talked to the counselor earlier today. She said it would be fine to put it up, but the problem would be finding parents. Not many people will want to adopt a baby whose mother tried to kill it. The poor thing probably has a scar 'cross its face from where I tried to stab it with a coat hanger."

The jade-blood frowned and sighed. "Vriska, you're giving this baby a chance, that's all that matters. Sure, it might have…problems once it's born, but I'm sure its new parents will love it just the same."

Vriska was about to say something, but her thoughtful glance soon turned into a glassy state. "Kanaya, hand me that bucket over there."

"What?"

" _Now_."

Kanaya stuttered but quickly scuffled across the room to grab the bucket, then handed it to Vriska. The cerulean-blood gagged before beginning to cough up vomit into the bucket.

"Vriska…" Kanaya crossed her arms. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, okay?" Vriska coughed again before looking back up. "I started feeling sick last night and I threw up this morning. I don't know what's happening, alright? I'm not trying to do it on purpose."

Kanaya sighed again. What was going on with her moirail? She was sure some of it was just pregnancy hormones, but Vriska certainly hadn't been acting normal.

"Vriska, dear, are you alright?" Kanaya reached out and stroked Vriska's cheek with the back of her hand. "You're feeling a little warm…are you sure you're not getting sick?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." The cerulean-blood sighed before deciding to change the subject. "So, what have you and Rose been up to lately?"

* * *

**-5:07 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Mr. Egbert picked up Casey's diaper bag and took his granddaughter from Karkat's arms. "Thank you so much for doing this," he told the troll, brushing some of Casey's hair out of her face. "I know it must be hard taking care of let alone one baby, then taking care of another who isn't even your own."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Karkat told the older man. "Shes' been around long enough to the point of where I know how to deal with her." He paused. "Where's John? Isn't he off of work by now?"

Mr. Egbert nodded. "He is, but he's picking up one of his friends…Dave, I think?...from the airport. I was going to take Casey to the hospital and meet her great-grandparents there, then visit Vriska for awhile."

"Oh." Karkat turned around to look at Katrina, who was about to pull a pile of magazines off the coffee table. "Well, I need to keep her out of trouble, so…"

"Alright," Mr. Egbert said, beginning to walk away with Casey. "Have a nice night."

* * *

**-5:51 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

Visiting hours only had two hours left, and John still hadn't come. Vriska was beginning to get worried. He would have mentioned to her if he wouldn't be coming.

Someone knocked on the door and she perked up. "Come in," she said, hoping for her husband.

The door handle clicked open and in came her grandparents-in-law. "Hi," she sighed, pushing her glasses up to the bridge of her nose.

"Hi, dear." Peggy, John's maternal grandmother, gave her granddaughter-in-law a soft smile. "Is everything alright?"

"It's…okay," the cerulean-blood responded with a shrug. "They took away my laptop and iPhone so all I can do is watch TV and finger knit." She held up the pinkish-purple scarf she was knitting. "I'm making this for Casey."

Suddenly the door opened yet again; this time Mr. Egbert came in holding his granddaughter. "Sorry we're late," he told Vriska. "It took me awhile to convince the hospital staff to let her in."

"Hi baby!" Vriska exclaimed, holding out her arms to receive her daughter. "I haven't seen you in  _days_!" She gave Casey a big kiss on the cheek.

"How are you, Vriska?" Mr. Egbert asked. "I meant to visit earlier, but with work and watching Casey, a lot's been going on."

Vriska pried Casey's tiny hand off her IV and looked back up at John's dad. "I'm really bored, to be honest," she told him and the others. "Like I told Peggy and Bob, they took away my laptop and iPhone so I can't do anything other than watch TV and finger knit."

"That doesn't sound like fun," the middle-aged man said. "Why would they do that?"

"Probably stuff about figuring out ways to get around eating," she scoffed. "Like  _I'd_  ever do that." Vriska paused. Would it be alright to tell them about her pregnancy? Even if she  _was_  planning on giving it up, they'd be able to figure it out at  _some_  point. It certainly wouldn't hurt for them to know…

"Oh, did John tell you the news?" she nervously said, deciding to move her glance down on her daughter to distract her.

"What news?" Peggy asked. She hopefully looked at her husband, maybe he knew, but got nothing.

"John never told me anything other than you being in here," Mr. Egbert agreed.

"Well…" Vriska decided it would be best just to blatantly state it. "We're having another baby."

Before anyone could react too joyously, she decided to add another thing. "And we've decided to put it up for adoption."

The adults in the room just stared at her. "…What?" they all said in near-unison.

The troll sadly nodded. "We can't afford another one this soon, and I've heard it's not easy raising two kids under the age of two."

"And…John was okay with this?" Bob asked confusedly.

"It was either that or abortion," Vriska told him. "At least with adoption, it'd still go to some parents out there."

She could tell Bob, Peggy, and Mr. Egbert were clearly uncomfortable and angry with her decision, but she knew it was in their best interest. "I'm still not comfortable talking about it," she said to everyone, "but anyway, I'm trying to get out before Casey's birthday…"

* * *

**-Saturday, September 9, 3:39 am/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

After everyone had left, Vriska had been practically overcome with painful stomach cramps and vomiting. The hospital staff had no idea what might have been wrong, other than possible food poisoning, but none of the other patients had experienced symptoms. The cerulean-blood had only slept for an hour or two at a time before waking up and rushing to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet.

This had been her fourth time waking up, and she was miserable. The cramping was so bad, she was just about ready to throw up on the floor. Finally, she forced herself to get out of bed and go to the bathroom—she ahd to go, anyway.

After coughing up vomit for about a minute or so, Vriska wiped her mouth and decided to take care of her business. Although, it was really hard to do so with all the stomach cramping. Aftre sitting on the toilet for about five minutes, wincing and grunting from the pain, Vriska knew something was wrong. So she reached for the emergency cord on the bathroom wall and pulled it.

Almost immediately after, she felt an uncontrollable urge and just about had a muscle spasm down there. Panicked, Vriska immediately spread her legs and looked into the toilet bowl—now filled with blood.

"Oh my god, oh my god," she panted, realizing what was happening. All the memories from Casey's birth came flooding back into her brain, and she knew what she had to do: push.

A nurse came rushing in and gasped when she saw Vriska. "Are you alright?" she asked. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I think I'm having a miscarriage," Vriska told her, whimpering in pain when she realized the fetus was trying to come out. "Oh my god…I think it's coming…"

"H-Hold on," the nurse told her, running out of the room to get the doctor.

By now Vriska was terrified. Although she didn't want this baby…she was at least looking forward to handing it over to its adoptive parents. And now she'd never get to do that.

Everything was a blur. A doctor finally showed up, and after confirming the signs of the miscarriage, immediately wheeled her to labor and delivery as a nurse called John to tell him to hurry over.

Since her body hadn't had time to prepare, the delivery took much longer than expected. John rushed into the delivery room and immediately took his wife's hand. "What is it?" he whispered, worriedly.

"I'm losing the baby," Vriska replied through tears. Her contractions were only about 30 seconds apart now, so she knew it was just about time.

"Ms. Egbert," the doctor told her, "I'll need you to push when I count to three alright?"

Vriska automatically nodded, even though she couldn't hear a word of what the doctor had said. All she knew to do was push. So she pushed, over and over again, until she felt like she was about to pass out.

The doctor immediately wrapped the tiny baby in a blanket after clipping and tying off the cord. "It's a girl," she told the Egberts with a sad smile, handing the baby to a nurse who handed the small bundle to Vriska.

Although she hated to do it, Vriska sobbed. Their little girl was so tiny and fragile…she could see her tiny heart beating through her translucent skin. She and John sat in silence, crying as they watched their second daughter's heartbeat slowly cease to beat.

They looked up at a nurse, who automatically knew what that meant. "Time of death, 4:28 am," she quietly told them. "I'm so sorry."

Vriska refused to let go, so the doctor handed the necessary forms to John to fill out before the tiny corpse's fate could be decided. "It says we have to give her a name," John sadly whispered to his wife, who nodded.

"Larissa," she whispered. "Larissa Margaret Egbert."

John nodded and immediately wrote the name down on both the birth and death certificate forms. "I never thought I'd ask this," he sighed, "but what do you want to do with the body?"

"What are the options?" his wife asked through sniffs.

"Do you want the hospital to dispose of the body, or do you want us to bury her?"

Their was no thought to the troll's answer. "I think we should bury her," she told John, looking down at the tiny baby in her arms. "Right next to your mom, if that's alright with you."

"I'd have to talk to my dad about it, but that sounds…good." He nodded and proceeded to check off the box on the form.

About 45 minutes had gone by before the Egberts were forced to part with their miscarried daughter. The hospital would agree to take care of the cremation, and have it ready by morning (they wouldn't be able to take care of the burial arrangements, however). Vriska was still devastated—why was it she lost this one, but not Casey? Not that she wanted to lose Casey, it just didn't make sense.

After being taken back to her original room, Vriska was ready to pass out. "I'm so sorry, John," she whispered, half asleep.

"You couldn't do anything to help it," he reassured her. It was honestly hard for him to comfort her, as the miscarriage  _could_  have been prevented and it kind of  _was_  her fault. "You should get some sleep; I know this is hard for you."

"Okay." Vriska sniffed again. "I want to be there when we bury her, John," she told her husband.

"Ashes can't decompose. You'll be there. I won't do  _anything_  without asking you first." He bent down and kissed his wife. "I love you. I'll be back tomorrow."

Vriska nodded and sniffed. "I love you too."


	17. Coolk1ds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got this chapter's skin to work! I'll try to fix the other chapters soon.
> 
> This was kind of an awkward chapter to write. Also, I got off on updating simultaneously, so on Fanfiction there's more chapters than there is here.

**-Saturday, September 9, 12:04 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

"So, you're finally up and at 'em, huh?" Dave asked, looking up from his laptop. "What shit went down last night, exactly?"

John groaned and sat down across from Dave, laying his head down on the kitchen table. "Vris lost the baby. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Tough shit, man." The blond sighed before going back to his laptop.

John shrugged and sighed. "It's just…I don't know," he told his friend. "I just found out earlier this week, and…I feel like shit. If I had known earlier, we could have had another daughter…wait, fuck, of course not. Vris would've wanted to get rid of it anyway."

Dave grunted, looking up at his friend through his signature shades.

"I don't know why it's bothering me so much!" the brunet continued. "She got what she wanted, and besides, it was her decision, not mine! Even though it was my kid…it's her body, not mine…"

"Egbert, listen." Dave sighed, slamming his laptop and leaning back in the chair. "I'm gonna tell you somethin' I ain't told no one before, alright? Not even Bro knows about this."

John nodded—when Dave's Texan accent slipped through, he knew it was serious.

"Y'know when Jade and I came for a visit? When Spiderbitch was still pregnant?" John nodded again. "Well, uh, in the hotel room…we got busy. About a month or so passes, then Jade calls me up. Tells me she's pregnant."

"What?" John looked at Dave in confusion. "She never told me that?"

"Shut up, I'm not finished. Anyway, she told me she wanted to abort the thing. You know us Texans—religious assholes, strong pro-lifers—even though I'm not really for that shit it still got to me, y'know? It was my kid inside of her. But she lives in Hawaii, and I live in Texas…we both agreed it wouldn't be good for the kid. Besides, we'd have to decide which one of us would move, take care of all that shit…we didn't want to deal with it. So she got the abortion, and…" He paused for effect. "…everything's cool."

"And what was the purpose of that?"

"Egderp, I'm saying, it happened for a reason. Just like Jade and I weren't ready for a kid, you and Spiderbitch weren't ready for another one."

"Speaking of kids…" John sighed. "…shit. I have to pick up Casey from my dad's house today. Wanna come with?"

Dave shrugged. "I'm here to hang out. I can't really hang out with you when I'm stuck at your house alone, can I?"

John chuckled a bit. "After I get dressed, we can go."

______________________________

**-4:47 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

Vriska choked out another sob before burying her face into the pillow again. A nurse had just come in and handed her the tiny box with Larissa's ashes in it, which got her all worked up again. Currently she was cradling the small box while crying her eyes out.

In between sobs she heard a quiet knock on the door. "Come in," she sniffed, wiping her eyes and combing through her hair with her fingers.

Kanaya and Rose quietly walked in so Vriska got herself together. "Hi," she tried to laugh, sniffing a bit as her moirail and other friend sat down in some chairs.

Neither of them knew what had happened early that morning. Vriska hadn't told anyone about the incident, and kind of didn't want to talk about it. She hated appearing weak in front of others.

"We just thought we'd…come to visit," Rose told her. "Has everything gotten better? Do you think you'll get out before Casey's birthday?"

"I hope so," the cerulean-blood replied. "The doctor says I've gained about three pounds. I'm honestly surprised."

"How much more do you need until you can get out?"

"Seven." The troll sadly nodded and decided to look up at Kanaya. "How are you guys?" she asked her moirail.

"Oh, nothing new…" Kanaya laughed a small laugh. "I got promoted at work, did I tell you that?"

"Congrats," Vriska replied, almost-unenthusiastically.

Kanaya glanced at Rose, who stayed silent. "How's the baby?" she asked Vriska suddenly.

Vriska stopped. It wouldn't be easy for her to tell her moirail—best friend—that her baby had died. But soon it would be obvious she was no longer pregnant. She HAD to tell her.

"Kanaya…Rose…" she quietly said, "…I lost the baby last night."

"Oh," the other two gasped similtaneously.

"Vriska, I'm so sorry," Kanaya told the other troll.

"We named her Larissa," Vriska continued. "We're going to bury her when I get out."

"This must be so hard for you," Rose said.

"Thanks, but…" Vriska sighed. "I don't really want to think about it right now. I'm sorry."

"Oh, we understand," Rose said, looking over at her girlfriend, who nodded in agreement.

Vriska nodded and looked down at her hands. "Well, um, I hate talking about me, so…what are you two doing?"

____________________________________

**-Monday, September 11, 7:51 am/University of Washington, Seattle campus-**

Terezi grabbed her books and slammed the car door. "I have ten minutes," she mumbled to herself as she began to walk towards the entrance to the building.

About two minutes later she walked into the lecture hall and began to walk towards her usual seat in the front row. As she let her hand glide down the railing to help her find her way, she noticed a guy staring at her. Terezi stopped and gave him a confused look. He did nothing but raise his eyebrows suggestively, which caused the teal-blood to gag a little. So she shrugged it off and went to her seat, deciding to ignore him for the rest of class.

Soon Terezi started to feel uncomfortable again, and glanced behind her to find that guy staring at her again. It was halfway through class, who could she tell about him? She had her laptop with her, obviously, so she could talk to whoever was on Trollian/Pesterchum.

Karkat would be her first choice, but…he had told his wife he'd be taking Katrina out of the house for a few hours, so he wasn't online. Vriska was still in the hospital, John was at college as well…

Then Terezi had someone in mind.

\-- gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling gamegrlCoolkid [GC]\--  
GC: L4TUL4 1 N33D YOUR H3LP  
GC: h3y g1rl!  
GC: wh4t do you n33d h3lp w1th?  
GC: OK4Y SO TH3R3S TH1S GUY  
GC: H3S ST4R1NG 4T M3  
GC: 4ND M4K1NG M3 UNCOMFORT4BL3  
GC: t3ll h1m to fuck off th3n!  
GC: 1 C4NT  
GC: W3R3 1N TH3 M1DDL3 OF CL4SS  
GC: K4RK4T C4NT COM3 OV3R TO G1V3 H1M 4 P13C3 OF H1S M1ND 31TH3R  
GC: why don't 1 com3 ov3r th3n?  
GC: 1 c4n b3 l1k3 your…b1g s1st3r or som3th1ng  
GC: TH4T W1LL WORK  
GC: 1 G3T OUT OF CL4SS 1N 20 M1NUT3S OR SO  
GC: sounds r4D!  
GC: 1ll s33 you th3n!  
\--gamegrlCoolkid [GC] has disconnected--

Terezi sighed and looked back up at the teacher, who was now going on about something relating to adverbs. She just wished class would be over already so she could get away from the creep.

Finally the professor dismissed the class. Terezi shut down her laptop and began to gather her stuff, keeping close eye on the guy who had been staring at her.

Up at the top of the lecture hall, Dylan was planning to make his move. "Make sure you do it to where I catch her, aight?" he told Luke, glancing at Terezi again to make sure she was coming up the steps.

"I have to get out of here," she thought, starting to act disinterested so she wouldn't have to speak to them. Grabbing the handrail she quickly started up the stairs, being careful not to trip—

"Fuck, oh my god, I'm sorry!"

It took a moment for Terezi to realize what had just happened. Her books had flown out of her hands and were scattered across the top steps. Her laptop was barely hanging on to the inside of her bag. The remaining students in the hall were all staring at her, and the guys who had caused it.

Terezi also noticed something—her glasses weren't on her face. So she felt around on the ground, hoping no one had seen her eyes, and finally found them.

Broken in half.

She quickly tried to cover her eyes with her hand, but felt something warm and wet on her face. After barely even a sniff, she knew what it was…blood.

The teal-blood didn't even have time to grab the papers she'd dropped—she HAD to get out of there before people figured out she wasn't human. Normally she just told people she had a skin condition, which was easily acceptable, but different colored blood and red eyes… There wasn't any way she could get around that. So she grabbed her textbooks and ran, leaving her notes and handouts behind.

"Great job, man," Luke scoffed.

"Shut up," Dylan said as he punched the other's shoulder.

_____________________________________

**-9:57 am/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Terezi threw her stuff on the ground and went straight into the bathroom to clean up. "You're home early," Karkat told her, taking Katrina with him into the open bathroom.

"Well, I would still be at school, but some creepy asshole tripped me." She turned around to face her husband, revealing her bloody nose. "The douchebag broke my glasses, too. I can't go anywhere until I get new ones."

Karkat rolled his eyes. "Humans are assholes, aren't they? Why was he creepy?"

"I think he was trying to flirt with me, I don't know!" Terezi responded. She paused. "Oh, um…Latula promised me she would help out for a few days, is that alright? She should be over any minute…"

"As long as Kankri isn't involved." Karkat sighed, thinking about how annoying his dancestor would be if he found out about Katrina. "He'd probably be all, 'Sex is disgusting, you're a slut, blah blah blah,'" he mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

The Vantases heard a loud knock on the front door and Terezi turned around. "I've got it!" she called, running out of the bathroom to answer the front door.

Latula squealed and threw her arms around Terezi, causing the other teal-blood to stumble in surprise. "OMG!" the older exclaimed, letting go if her dancestor's body, then raising her hand up in the air. "Up top!"

Terezi awkwardly high-fived Latula, mumbling an "ow" after rubbing her hand. "Um…yeah. Come inside."

"So this is where you live, huh?" Latula asked, admiring the interior. "It looks rad!"

"I would hope it's rad," Terezi said under her breath, taking the other troll into the living room where Karkat and Katrina were. "I'm 100% blind right now, so if I'm about to run into something or step on something, please tell me."

Latula stopped, which caused Terezi to run into the doorway. "OMG!" she exclaimed for the millionth time, running over to the tiny troll on the floor. "Who's this?"

"That's Katrina," Karkat told his wife's dancestor.

"So this means I have a…"

"Niece," Terezi finished for her, feeling her way around to the couch, which she sat on. "If you were actually my sister, she would be your niece. But you're close enough to a sister."

Karkat grunted and picked up Katrina. "Hey Princess," he said to his daughter, "let's go visit Auntie Latula, okay?"

He handed the young troll over to Latula. It didn't take long for Katrina to develop a liking towards her "Auntie" Latula. However, holding the child soon became an exhausting task, and Latula gave Katrina back to Karkat after only a few minutes of holding her.

The doorbell rang and everyone perked up. "I'll get it," Karkat sighed, standing up and taking Katrina with him to the door.

He opened the door and there stood a man he had never seen before. "Can I help you?" he asked, slightly irritated.

"Um…does Terezi Vantas live here?" The other guy, a dirty blonde, was nervously fumbling with the edges of the papers he was carrying. "Who—who are you?"

"I live here?" Karkat turned around and stuck his head inside. "Terezi!" he called. "There's someone at the door!"

Terezi groaned, standing back up. "Can you take me to the door?" she asked Latula. "I left my cane upstairs since I don't need it much anymore."

"Sure thing!"

Once they were at the door, Terezi stood next to Karkat and sighed. "How the fuck did you get my address?" she sighed, looking down at the ground to try and hide her eyes.

"I, um…I brought you the things you dropped," Dylan sheepishly told her, shoving the stack of papers into her arms.

"You guys can go back," Terezi whispered in Karkat's ear. "I want to talk to him alone."

After Karkat and Latula had left with Katrina, Terezi turned back to the guy who had creeped her out so much. "Listen," she told him, "I don't care how fucking much you like me, that's really creepy. And I'm married! I have a kid—"

"Wait, so you were that pregnant chick everyone was talking about last semester?!"

"I don't know, maybe?! Anyway, I want you to get the fuck off of my front porch. I don't want to catch you looking at me like that ever again. Are we clear?"

"Yeah…"

"Are we clear?"

Dylan quickly nodded before running back to his car. Oh well. At least Terezi had her notes…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had several people tell me this is confusing, since ectobiology isn't used in this AU, but the dancestors are alive and not a mirror to the ancestors. That's the best I can explain it.
> 
> ALSO: I didn't come up with Latula's trolltag myself. It's from another fic on here (which I strongly recommend), "Beforusbent" by rezi.


	18. One Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really awkward chapter to write, so please forgive me.

**-Saturday, September 16, 2:48 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital/ 4 ½ months old-**

Vriska winced as a nurse took out her IV, not liking the uncomfortable feeling of something moving in her vein. Once the bloody IV was out, a gauze was quickly wrapped around her wrist to stop the bleeding.

"Are you happy to be going home?" the nurse asked with a smile.

"Very," Vriska laughed. "My daughter's first birthday is on Tuesday, so I'm happy I'm going home in time for that."

The nurse smiled and began to clean up the IV materials. "I remember being there," she told the soon-to-be-former hospital patient. "Savor it while you can. Mine are in college now."

The cerulean-blood cracked a smile before the nurse left. She couldn't believe that Casey would be a year old soon! It had all gone by so fast; it still seemed like just yesterday she was pregnant…

* * *

**-one year earlier-**

_"John." Vriska slammed her hands on the desk in the study and looked her startled husband directly in the eye. "Fuck me. Now."_

_The then-20-year-old sighed before looking up at Vriska. "I'm trying to finish this paper, can we wait until I'm done?" he asked irritatedly. "I just need to write the conclusion paragraph and then I'm done. Okay?"_

_"Fine, but hurry!" Vriska whined, resting her hand on her heavily pregnant stomach. "I want to go into labor as quickly as possible!"_

_"I'll be right up." John sighed, looking back at his laptop and waving his hand in a shooing motion._

_Vriska rolled her eyes and decided to start up the stairs. At almost 40 weeks pregnant, it was difficult for her to walk up and down stairs without getting winded, let alone walking around in general. Overall she had just been feeling like shit and couldn't wait for Casey to arrive._

_Once in the bedroom, she began to take off her clothes in preparation for John's promise to her. After throwing her clothing aside and slipping on some maternity lingerie she'd picked up a few months earlier, she stopped in front of the mirror and sighed._

_"Look at me," Vriska mumbled to herself, dropping her shoulders as her hands slid down to cradle her stomach. Hideous bluish stretch marks were everywhere, her boobs were swollen, and she overall just thought she looked awful._

_Then she heard footsteps._

* * *

- **back to present time/2:56 pm-**

"Are you ready, Vris?" John asked, taking his wife's hand and pulling her up off the bed. She enthusiastically nodded.

"I'm ready to get out of here," she laughed, picking up her duffel bag and purse. "I'm not looking forward to cleaning and cooking, though."

John smiled and began to walk out the door. "C'mon, let's get you checked out so we can go home!"

* * *

**-25 minutes later/John's car-**

Vriska looked out the window and let out a lengthy sigh as she watched the trees pass. Although she was happy to be going home, she still didn't feel right. She couldn't tell if it was excitement, fear, or sadness.

"Vris?" John asked, glancing at his wife before hitting a red light. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I don't know," the troll sighed. "I'm happy I got out in time for Casey's birthday, but…I don't know. I still feel awful about Larissa, about being in the hospital, about losing my job…"

"Everything happens for a reason, Vris. You said we weren't ready for another baby, and it turned out we weren't ready for another baby. You were probably in the hospital again to further show yourself not to do that again, and who knows? You might get a better job soon."

A better job? She still hadn't told John about what job she had been thinking about for the past several weeks. Now that she had had time to think about it, keeping the job a secret would probably hurt John so much more than being open about it.

"Speaking of jobs…before I went to the hospital, I was looking at some things…" Vriska quietly said. "I think I've…found one."

"That's great." John smiled. "Where was it?"

Vriska swallowed hard before looking out the window to avoid making eye contact. "A strip club on the other side of town," she mumbled.

"What the fuck?!" The brunet slammed on the brakes to avoid colliding into the car in front of him. "Vriska, are you fucking insane?! You are not taking off your clothes for other men like the whorey sluts that work there!"

"That's not very nice to say, John," Vriska calmly told him. "Some of those 'whorey sluts' may be people just like me who really need the money."

"But there's other things to do! Why do you have to do that?!"

"It's quick and easy money and all I have to do is look hot. Besides, I don't necessarily have to take off my clothes to earn it."

"You are not taking off your clothes for other men and you are not working at a strip club. End of discussion; do not bring this up again."

The cerulean-blood sighed and looked back out the window again. "John, pull into that gas station over there."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

John reluctantly turned into the nearest gas station and parked in a parking space. "Make it quick," he irritatedly told his wife as she got out of the car and went inside.

A few minutes later, Vriska came back out with a small plastic bag. "What did you get?" John asked, actually curious but still irritated. Vriska sighed before reaching into the bag and taking out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter.

The human let out a loud sigh before gripping the steering wheel. "You are not smoking that," he told Vriska. "You just got out of the hospital, and you'll get lung cancer."

"I just got out of the hospital and I'm fucking suffering from PTSD as well as depression. I'm going to smoke a pack if I want to, and you can't stop me."

"PTSD?  _Really_?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but did you have to murder thousands of innocent trolls just to stay alive? No? Exactly."

* * *

**-4:13 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

The doorbell rang, and Terezi slowly got up from the couch to answer it. Since Monday's incident, she had gotten a new pair of glasses and told her English professor about Dylan, so any future mishaps could be (hopefully) prevented.

The teal-blooded troll opened the front door and sighed when she came face-to-face with Vriska. "What do you want?" she sighed, crossing her arms.

"Um…I was wondering if I could stay the night." Vriska was staring at a warp in the wood on the porch, fumbling with the ends of her hair and avoiding eye contact.

"Why?"

"John's…mad at me," Vriska quietly said, now focusing her glance on a spider climbing up the window.

"What else is new?" Terezi rolled her eyes and leaned on the doorway. "No. You  _always_  do this every time something like this happens. Besides, you just got out of the hospital, holy shit! Spend time with your kid!"

The other troll sighed before turning around to look at her house. "…John went to go get her," she told Terezi, "so she's not home now."

"You know what I mean, stop playing stupid!"

A shrill cry erupted from somewhere inside the Vantases' house, and Terezi let out a long sigh. "Try to work things out," she disinterestedly told her friend. "I need to figure out what  _she_  needs."

* * *

**-Tuesday, September 19, 11:38 am/John & Vriska's house/4 3/4 months old-**

Casey jumped when the doorbell rang, and John laughed at his startled daughter. "C'mere, Peanut," he cooed, scooping the baby into his arms. "Let's go see who it is!"

He opened the door and came face-to-face with his dad and maternal grandparents. "Come on in," he smiled, stepping to the side. "Vriska's setting up in the kitchen, and everyone else should be here by noon."

"Oh, I can't believe my great-grandbaby is already a year old!" Peggy exclaimed as she stroked Casey's fluffy head. "It seems like yesterday we found out we were expecting a great-granddaughter…"

"Tell me about it," Vriska laughed from inside the kitchen. She scooped some caramel into a bowl and placed a handful of apple slices in a neat design on a plate. "It feels like she was literally just born…oh, you can just put the presents by the couch."

"Oh!" Peggy ran into the living room and placed the large bag next to the couch, then returned to the living room.

"That certainly wasn't pleasant," she smiled, remembering the moment she, her husband, and son-in-law first saw Casey.

* * *

**-one year earlier-**

_"She looks just like you, Vicky," Bob smiled, looking up from the newborn baby to her mother._

_"Vriska," John corrected, rolling his eyes._

_"Right!" The new great-grandfather chuckled out loud before handing Casey back to Vriska._

_Mr. Egbert smiled, trying his best to hold back tears of joy. "Casey reminds me a lot of you when you were a baby, John," he told his son with a playful nudge to the shoulder. "I just hate your mother's not here to see her…"_

_"Dad, I'm sure she's proud of us." John smiled a gentle smile before looking back at his newborn daughter._

The doorbell rang again, causing Vriska to nearly slice the tip of her finger off. "I'll get it this time!" she called, setting down the knife to go answer the door.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, stepping to the side to let her friends in. "You can just put the presents next to the couch; we're about to eat."

"Did you organize this all by yourself?" Rose wondered aloud in awe.

The cerulean-blood nodded enthusiastically. "John's dad made the cake, that's the only thing I didn't do." She led the group into the kitchen, where oodles of stereotypical party foods sat.

"Is this everyone?" Mr. Egbert asked, hungrily glancing at the food.

John shook is head, handing Casey to his wife. "A couple of our friends should be getting here, but they have a tendency of showing up late—"

"Sorry!" a female voice exclaimed, entering the house with her husband and a baby. "I hope you didn't start without us!"

"No, we were just about to start eating," Vriska laughed, giving her friend a quick hug. "Glad you could make it."

* * *

**-back to present time/12:23 pm-**

"C'mon Casey, blow out the candle!" Vriska smiled and gently blew out the single candle for her daughter. "Yay! You did it!" she clapped, laughing when her daughter did her best to imitate.

"Okay, now  _we_  can get the cake," Karkat sighed, causing Terezi to giggle.

John rolled his eyes and began cutting the cake for everyone else. "Can Katrina have a piece?" he asked the Vantases, beginning to make a normal-sized cut into the cake.

"She can just have part of mine," Terezi told him, patiently awaiting a slice of Mr. Egbert's homemade cake.

"John, you said your dad made this?" Jennifer asked curiously after swallowing a bite.

"I did," Mr. Egbert replied proudly. "It's the family recipe."

"This is  _really_  good!" Jennifer turned to her husband. "Mitch, have you tried this?!"

"Da-da-da-da-da!" Katrina babbled uncontrollably, suddenly becoming fidgety in her father's lap. She squirmed and reached out towards the piece of cake Terezi was holding, flexing her fingers as if wanting to grab it.

"Do you want a bite?" the teal-blood asked, breaking off a small piece of the chocolate cake with her fork and guiding it into the baby troll's mouth.

"Oh my god," Vriska sighed, standing up. "Cassia Jane!" She picked up the baby covered in pink frosting and carried her over to the sink. "Why do you have to get so dirty?"

* * *

**-1:11 pm-**

Mitch, Jennifer, and Bella had left, and Bob and Peggy were about to leave. Mr. Egbert, the Vantases, and Rose and Kanaya had all agreed to stay a bit afterwards to help clean up.

"Casey was  _exhausted_ ," Vriska told the others, sighing as she sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm exhausted, too, and the party was only an hour!"

"Well, you  _did_  have to clean her up and open her presents," Kanaya commented.

Rose exchanged a glance with her girlfriend, who blushed and nodded.

"Both of us have something we'd like to tell you," the blonde human nervously told the Egberts and Vantases with a smile.

Karkat shrugged and received a sleeping Katrina from his wife. "Okay?" he asked, waiting for either of them to just say it.

"Rose and I have talked recently," Kanaya began, "and the two of us have decided we'd like to get married."

The two familes reacted joyously and gave the newly engaged couple a hug. "That's great!" Vriska told her moirail. "When were you planning the wedding?"

"We think sometime in late June or early July," Rose responded. "My mother is in the process of selling our house in New York, so I'm sure she'd like to have settled down here before then."

"Oh, well, congrats," Karkat whispered, being careful not to wake his daughter.

The two fiancées nodded before gathering their things. "Well, I had fun," Kanaya told Vriska. "I can't believe she's already one year old!"

"Neither can I." Vriska smiled as she leaned against the wall. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you soon?"

"Of course." The jade-blood smiled before exiting the house with a wave.


	19. New Faces, New Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vriska makes yet another mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what happened here.
> 
> Trigger warnings for alcoholic beverages and implied self-harm.

**-Tuesday, October 31, 6:48 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/6 months old-**

"Why do humans even celebrate this lousy holiday?" Terezi wondered aloud, though directing it towards John.

"Something about ghosts, that's all I remember." He smiled and looked down at Casey, who was dressed in a tiny pirate costume. "Look at how cute my little pirate is!" he cooed.

"That's what I like about Halloween—it's acceptable to dress up as pirates!" Vriska laughed and adjusted the hat of her "upgraded" Mindfang costume so her horns could fit through the holes a bit better. "Sometimes I miss FLARPing, even though it was extremely dangerous…"

"It's a shame Aradia and Tavros won't talk to us anymore." Terezi stood up and walked over to the fridge. "I know we—well, you especially—kind of acted like bitches then, but still…"

"Actually, I still talk to Tavros," Vriska said. "I haven't seen him in person since I was pregnant with Casey, but yeah, we still talk."

The teal-blood shrugged and poured some juice into her cup. "Karkat!" she called. "Is Katrina ready?"

"Just about!" Karkat started down the stairs, carrying his daughter with him. "I don't think she likes her costumes very much, but she looks cute!"

"Look at my little princess!" Terezi cooed, standing up to take Katrina from her husband. 'You look so pretty!"

"When are Rose and Kanaya coming over?" Karkat asked John.

The human checked his phone before looking back up at Karkat. "Should be any minute," he told him. "Rose is bringing her mom, by the way, and my dad should be coming too."

Almost as soon as he said that, he noticed a car pulling in the driveway, followed by another one, and another one. He recognized one of them as his dad's, and assumed the other two to belong to Rose and her mother.

Sure enough, he was right. His dad began to get out of his car, followed by Kanaya, Rose, and her mom. The three walked up to the Vantases' front door and knocked on it.

Terezi stood up and sighed as she got up to answer the door. "Come on in," she told the group, stepping out of the way to let them inside.

"Hi," Rose's mom said, sticking out her hand to introduce herself. "I'm Roxanne, and you are...?"

"Terezi," the teal-blooded troll finished for her. "We have food and drinks in the kitchen; that's where the others are."

"That sounds nice." The older blonde woman began to walk into the house, but gasped as she tripped over the threshold and landed in someone's arms. She looked up and straight into the eyes of Mr. Egbert.

"That would have been a nasty fall; he chuckled, slowly lifting her back up. Rose's mom began to brush off her dress and Mr. Egbert said, "Roxanne, right?"

The blonde smiled and blushed. "You can call me Roxy," she corrected before finishing the walk into the Vantases' kitchen.

"Mom!" Rose said, motioning for Roxy to sit down at the table. "This is my friend John, his wife Vriska, and their daughter, Casey."

"Hi," John said, sticking out his hand for his friend's mom to shake. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lalonde."

"Oh, you can just call me Roxy," she said with a smile, her eyes wandering down to focus her glance on Casey. "Oh, isn't she just a cutie!"

"Thank you," Vriska told the woman with a smile. The troll looked down at her daughter and ruffled her hair before kissing her chubby cheek.

* * *

**-Friday, November 10, 7:12 pm/John & Vriska's house/6 ¼ months old-**

"What time are Kanaya and Terezi getting here again?" John asked his wife as he put Casey in her high chair for dinner. The toddler squirmed and fought against it, but had no luck.

"Should be any moment," Vriska told him with a shrug, brushing some of her recently curled hair out of her face.

The date the cerulean-blood had chosen for her "birthday" when she first arrived on Earth was November 8. Since November 8th of this year happened to be during the week, she decided she wouldn't celebrate until the weekend. After some discussion with John, Vriska had decided she would do what Karkat did on his 21st "birthday"—go out with friends while the spouse did whatever. So, she, Terezi, and Kanaya were going to check out a recently opened nightclub downtown that they'd heard good things about while Karkat and John sat around with the babies. Even though that sounded boring, the two were okay with it.

Kanaya's silver SUV pulled into the Egberts' driveway and Vriska turned to John . "Kanaya's here!" she exclaimed. "Terezi's not here yet, though…I see her! She's coming!"

A knock was heard at the door and John sighed with relief. "She knocked this time," he said to himself before setting a container of baby food down on the counter and going to answer the door.

"Hi Kanaya," he smiled. "Come on in; Terezi should be here any moment."

The troll didn't even bother to take off her coat since she knew they would be leaving soon. "Thank you," she told John before stepping in and going to the kitchen.

"Oh, Vriska!" she gasped. "Your dress is gorgeous!"

"Thank you." Vriska smiled, very proud of the mid-thigh-length blue cocktail dress she had bought earlier that week. "Oh, there's Terezi. B ye, John!"

John gave his wife a kiss. "Stay safe, don't get drunk,  _no_  drinking games, alright? Love you."

"Love you too." Vriska turned to Casey and gave her a tiny kiss on the forehead. "Bye, Peanut! Have fun with Daddy!"

* * *

**-7:39 pm/Toxxic Nightclub & Bar-  
**

"What the fuck kind of name is 'Toxxic'?" Vriska asked, shooting a confused look at Terezi. "And where did you hear about this place?"

"A lot of the people in my classes were talking about it?" The teal-blood uncomfortably gripped her clutch and looked down at the ground. "At least it's in the good part of town…"

Kanaya decided to be the first to step up and actually showed some interest in checking out the place. "I looked it up online the other day," she told her friends, "and it has  _very_  good reviews. Pleasant staff, low tolerance for utter chaos…as long as none of us get drunk, it should be fine."

The jade-blood pushed open the door and was instantly met with loud, booming music, bright, flashing lights, and a crowd talking and drinking. After being ID'd and lots of pushing and shoving, the group finally made it to an empty table in a back corner.

"What's going on?" Terezi shouted as she took off her coat and looked around. "I can't hear anything!"

"I can't either," Vriska responded. "I'm gonna get a drink. Wanna come?"

Terezi rolled her eyes, but got up from the table anyway. "Watch our stuff," she told Kanaya before being dragged away to the bar.

* * *

**-8:27 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

What had originally been a chill day for John and Karkat and a play date for Casey and Katrina had quickly turned into a disaster.

Shorty after Karkat and Katrina had arrived, Casey banged her head on the coffee table and immediately started crying. The crying set Katrina off as well, so soon there were two screaming babies and two very irritated dads. Once they had calmed the girls down, John popped  _Ghostbusters_  into the DVD player, much to Karkat's dismay. Casey had decided the movie was too scary and began crying again, so John paused the movie and took her into the kitchen to try and calm her down. And while John was trying to do that, Karkat got peed on while changing a diaper.

"Fuck!" the mutant-blood growled out loud before remembering not to curse in front of his daughter. He looked down at his urine-soaked shirt and back to Katrina, still lying on the floor with nothing covering her butt.

Katrina wiggled her arms and legs as her father tried to put a clean diaper on her. "Da-da-da-da!" she squealed, picking up her favorite stuffed puffball and throwing it at Karkat's face.

Karkat sighed with frustration before taping the diaper closed and pulling up the baby troll's pants. "Thank you for not crying," he sighed, picking her up and setting her back down on the play mat. "Daddy will be  _right_  back," he firmly told her before going into the kitchen.

"Do you have a t-shirt or something I could borrow?" he asked, glancing down at his own. "Katrina peed on mine."

"Yeah, just a minute…" The brunet sighed before shoving Casey into Karkat's arms. "Take her back into the living room, will you; I'll go get you a shirt."

* * *

**-9:53 pm/Toxxic Nightclub & Bar-**

"…and then he said Katrina peed on him. It doesn't sound like he's having much fun." Terezi set the wine glass down on the table and checked her phone for messages again. "I know we're here for Vriska, but still…I hate him and John are having a shitty night…"

"Speaking of Vriska…" Kanaya looked around. "Have you seen her? I haven't seen her since she left for the bathroom… Do you think she's okay?"

Terezi was having a hard time making out things since it was dark, but stood up anyway. "I'm going to go look for her," she told the jade-blood. "Make sure no one takes my drink, alright?"

Her first stop was the bathroom, since that's where Vriska said she would be going last. She checked under the stalls but didn't find Vriska—she even waited for each person to leave before shrugging and going back. She awkwardly checked out the dance floor to see if the blue-blood had wandered over there, but still had no luck. Finally, something—just something—told her to go outside.

"Excuse me," she said to the person at the door, "have you seen someone leave? Tall, black hair, blue dress?"

The man thought for a moment before looking back at Terezi. "…Yeah, I think so," he said. "About five minutes ago. She didn't look too good; she was having a real hard time walking. Should probably go after her before she wanders into the road."

"Thank you!" Terezi ran out the door and stopped on the sidewalk, looking in all directions for her friend. Traffic was especially busy on Friday nights, so she was worried something might have happened.

Suddenly she noticed a figure with familiar horns atop the head in the distance. "Vriska!" Terezi called, running after the figure. "Vriska!" she exclaimed again, resting her hand on the other's shoulder as she caught her breath. "Kanaya and I have been looking for you! Are you okay?"

Vriska cocked her head, her face hot and flushed with blue blood. "Kahhhhhhhh…nayaaaaaaaa?" she asked. "Whossat?"

Terezi immediately realized something wasn't right. "…Kanaya," she repeated. "She's your moirail. She's inside waiting for you."

"Whashedoininside?" Vriska laughed before stumbling into a lamppost.

"Oh my god!" Terezi groaned, looking around before looking back at Vriska. "Um…we're going to go back inside to get Kanaya, okay? Then we're going to go back home."  _Talking to a drunk person is like talking to Katrina,_  she thought as she helped Vriska stand up and started to drag her towards the nightclub entrance.

Thankfully Kanaya had noticed Terezi leaving, and bumped into her on her attempted reentrance. "Oh my god," the jade gasped when she saw Vriska. "How much did she have to drink?"

"I don't know," Terezi replied, taking her phone, clutch, and coat back. "She's totally out of it. She couldn't even remember who you are."

Almost as soon as Terezi said that a police car pulled over and stopped right next to the three. "Is everything alright?" the officer calmly asked, slightly taken aback by the three trolls' appearances. "I noticed she's stumbling a lot…"

"We don't know how much she had to drink," Kanaya told him, trying to support half of Vriska's weight on her shoulder. "Apparently she couldn't even remember who I was, so I suspect a lot."

"I see…" The officer paused, getting a good look at Vriska. "…I think we'll do a breathalyzer test on her to see about how much. I can already tell she's drunk, so there's no need for all that other stuff."

While the officer went back to his police car, Terezi and Kanaya cringed at each other. This wasn't looking good, and they definitely didn't want anyone getting in trouble with the law.

The police officer came back with the test in hand and went up to Vriska. He was about to tell her what was going to happen, but she confusedly looked up at him and asked, "Where 'm I?"

"She is definitely not okay," he told the other two before looking back at Vriska. "Alright," he calmly told her, holding the breathalyzer test up, "when I tell you to, I'll need you to blow into this until the beep stops, okay?"

Vriska disorientedly nodded and blew into the device as directed. Once the test had been finished the officer stared at the results in surprise.

".32…" he said aloud. "I'm surprised she can even walk still. Any more, she'd be at risk for a coma."

"What do we need to do?" Kanaya asked the man with a grunt, still struggling to support Vriska's weight. "Does she need to go to the hospital?"

The officer nodded. "Definitely. I know someone whose father died when his blood-alcohol level was just a bit higher than that. Not to scare you or anything, but better safe than sorry."

Terezi nodded in understandment, trying to hide her irritation about the situation. "Should we take her?"

"If you feel comfortable with it. I could take her and you two follow behind, if that's what you'd prefer. This  _is_  an emergency…"

"We're fine with taking her," Kanaya quickly said, motioning for Terezi to help her carry Vriska to the car. "Thank you very much."

"Of course." The officer smiled. "Here, let me at  _least_  help you two take her to your car…"

* * *

**-10:36 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

"What?!" John exclaimed into the phone, causing Karkat to jump a bit and sigh with frustration. "What do you mean?  _Point thirty-two_?! Holy shit, yeah, I'm coming, oh my god!"

The brunet hung up and quickly stood up with Casey in his arms. "Where are  _you_  going?" Karkat scoffed, rolling his eyes and staring back at the TV.

"Vriska's flat-out drunk, and a police officer got her admitted to the hospital, so I guess I'm going back over there!" He was obviously irritated and quickly grabbed Casey's diaper bag. "You can leave whenever you want, just make sure you lock the door."

* * *

 

**-11:21 pm/Maple Valley Regional Hospital-**

Vriska slowly opened her eyes, unaware of where she was or what had just happened. All she knew were that her mouth tasted weird and…holy crap, did she feel like she was going to be sick!

She panicked a bit before noticing a bucket on the floor next to the bed, and immediately threw up in it. After making sure that was it for now, she noticed John was in the room. Looking very irritated.

"What happened?" she croaked, struggling just to sit up. Her vision was still fuzzy, but she was pretty sure she was in the hospital—she had no idea the reason, though.

"' _Don't get drunk, no drinking games_ ,'" John mimicked in a high-pitched voice as he rolled his eyes. "Vriska, Terezi said you almost wandered into traffic, you threw up in Kanaya's car and then passed out in your own vomit!"

"I…did that?"

"Yes, you did. Now, I think you should get some sleep. I'll ask more questions tomorrow when there's not as much alcohol in your system. Just remember, there's a bucket next to your bed to throw up into, alright? I'll be right here." John was trying really hard to keep his cool; she had just woken up, and was still a bit drunk, after all. Plus he didn't want a repeat of what happened a couple months earlier. Now, if there were something to keep his mind off of the hospital bills…

* * *

**-Saturday, November 11, 3:34 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

"Goddamn—stupid—motherfucking—ugh!" Vriska tried to hold back tears as she continued to bang her head against the cabinet in the kitchen, but failed. She had just been released from the hospital that afternoon, and still had some alcohol in her system (but small enough to be considered safe). Kanaya and Terezi had just given her their side of the story, the parts that John had left out, and told her exactly how much she had been drinking. Maybe John was right. Maybe she  _did_ need to go to counseling. She needed to learn self-control, coping methods, not to mention more on eating disorders.

"Oh, who am I fucking kidding?!" Vriska quit banging her head against the cabinet and slid down onto the floor before burying her face in her knees and sobbing. She remembered just sitting there, crying, before John ran into the kitchen in shock.

"Oh my god, Vriska," he said, immediately helping his wife up off the floor. It was then she noticed the blood—drops of blue blood, on the floor, on her clothes…dripping down her arm… "Vriska, what were you trying to do?!"

"I don't know!" she sobbed, tensing up when John shoved her bloody arm under the sink faucet. She didn't know what to say—she didn't know what she had just done, or why she had just done it, or what was going on in general.

She didn't remember much since then, only getting gauze wrapped around her arm and carried upstairs to the bedroom. John was letting his wife cry into his shoulder; he had no idea why she was doing it, but he knew crying it out would be the best thing to do.

"It'll be okay, Vris," he told her, giving her a hug and kissing her forehead. "It'll be okay."


	20. Another "Happy" Thanksgiving

**-Saturday, November 18, 11:24 am/Vriska's car/6 ½ months old-**

Vriska sighed and turned into the parking lot of the nearest tattoo parlor. She had talked with John, and he had agreed to let her get another tattoo (so long as it was small and nothing weird). So she had decided, instead of getting another hyper-realistic spider or spider web, she would get something motivational that could help her.

She locked her car after getting out of it and went into the tattoo parlor. "Hey!" the guy inside exclaimed, looking up from his phone and standing up. "What'll it be for today?"

The cerulean-blood held up her wrist. "I was wanting a tattoo here."

The tattoo artist nodded and began to give her the required lecture on the procedure, how much it would cost, tool sterilization, etc. Vriska only half listened; this was her fifth tattoo, after all.

After the seemingly long lecture, the artist led Vriska over to where he drew up the tattoo designs. "I'm assuming you already have something in mind?" he asked her, hoping for a 'yes'.

"I do." The troll reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. "Just this, in black," she told him, handing the crumpled up Post-it note to him.

The artist squinted. "What is this?" he curiously asked, cringing when he realized it might have come off as rude.

"Oh, um…that's written in my native language," Vriska hesitantly told him, quickly adding, "I'd rather keep it to myself what it says."

"That's fine." The artist gave a small smile before taking the Alternian text and beginning to trace it onto a larger sheet of paper to put into the transfer machine.

Once the stencil was ready, the tattoo artist prepped the skin on Vriska's left wrist before transferring the design template onto it. "Is this your first tattoo?" he casually asked as he began to unwrap the equipment from their sterile packages.

"No," Vriska replied, "I have four others." She casually pulled her long hair to the side to reveal the spider web peeking out from her hairline behind her ear. "I also have two on my back and one on my foot."

"That's cool." The artist began to prepare the ink as he continued to talk to Vriska. "What are your other tattoos of, if you don't mind me asking?"

"There's a spider on my foot, a pair of baby footprints on one side of my lower back, and my daughter's name on the other side."

Vriska could tell the artist was shocked at her statement, but continued setting up his equipment. "You have a daughter?" he calmly asked as he began to take out the ink.

The cerulean-blooded troll nodded. "Her name's Casey. She'll be fourteen months on the 19th."

"I'll bet that's exciting," the tattoo artist told her, prepping the gun. "Alright, now, this is probably going to hurt worse than your others since it's on your wrist, so be prepared…"

* * *

**-12:18 pm-**

"Make sure you keep the bandage on it for at least two hours," the artist reminded Vriska as she tightened the gauze wrapped around her wrist. "Also, try not to get it wet for about two or three weeks, just to be safe."

"I can do that." Vriska tucked the gauze in on the top of her wrist and stood up. "Alright, thanks so much."

"No problem. Good luck with everything." The tattoo artist gave Vriska a small wave as she left the tattoo parlor.

She got into her car and immediately cranked it, eager to show John the new design once the bandage was ready to be taken off. It was actually something she was proud of—well, she was also proud of the tattoo that read  _Cassia Jane – 9/19/16—_ but she was really proud of this one as it had been her idea, and it was unique to her.

As she pulled out of the parking lot she smiled and quietly repeated the phrase she had just gotten tattooed on her wrist (in Alternian, of course)—

" _It gets better_."

* * *

**-Thursday, November 23, 5:26 pm/Bob & Peggy Evans' house/6 ¾ months old-**

"Vriska,  _try_ to keep your cool around Aunt Joanna, alright?" John begged as he began to take Casey out of her car seat. "I know she's annoying and judgmental and overall kind of hateful, but  _please_  don't say anything to retaliate, okay?

"I'll try…" Vriska let out a long sigh,  _not_  looking forward to what would be the second of many Thanksgiving dinners with John's maternal family. "Is your dad here yet?"

"I don't see his car, but he should be here soon." John handed Casey's diaper bag to Vriska, who slammed the back car door once John had Casey in his arms. "Alright, let's get this over with."

The Egberts went up to the front door of Bob and Peggy's house and rang the doorbell. After waiting around for a few seconds, Bob Evans, John's grandfather, opened the door.

"Come on in," the grey-haired man said with a chuckle, holding open the door for the family of three. "We plan on starting to eat at around 5:45, maybe six if we're still missing people."

John nodded. "Great." He looked down at Casey and smiled. "Hey Peanut," he cooed, "your cousin Annabelle's just a few months older than you, do you want to play with her?"

Since Casey could only say a few words, she didn't do anything but let out a seemingly irritated grunt. John shrugged and carried the toddler into the living room, Vriska following him.

"Hi!" almost all the adults in the room exclaimed simultaneously, standing up to hug their nephew, his wife, and daughter. It was really awkward, because Bob and Peggy were the only ones the Egberts regularly talked to.

"Hi," John nervously laughed, quickly placing his daughter on the play mat next to her 20-month-old cousin. "So, what's…happening?"

"We're just waiting for…your father to get here," his Aunt Joanna nervously replied. "I hope he's getting here soon; is he getting here soon?"

"Yes, he is," John replied with a small eye roll. He had been secretly preparing himself for whatever bitching Aunt Joanna would be doing that night, whether it was about his mom not being there or Vriska "being a stereotypical young mom" or Mr. Egbert being irresponsible for letting John marry so young. "In fact, I think that's him pulling in right now…"

* * *

**-6:02 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

The timer dinged on the old oven and Karkat put on the oven mitts. "Did you put the rest of the food on the table?" he asked Terezi, who was putting Katrina in her high chair.

"Yeah!" She immediately turned back to Katrina, who was using all her tiny force to avoid being put in the high chair.

"No!" the tiny troll cried over and over again, eventually giving up and bursting into tiny baby sobs.

Terezi sighed and sat down in a chair at the table. "I'm gonna start feeding her," she irritatedly told her husband before scooping some creamed corn into a bowl.

"That's fine." Karkat brought the turkey over to the table and set it down. "I can't believe we have an actual turkey this year, one that's not frozen and pre-sliced," he laughed, taking off the oven mitts.

"And we have  _lots_  to be thankful for! Like Katrina liking her corn and not crying." The teal-blood guided another spoonful into her daughter's mouth. "Sometimes I still wonder what it would be like if I carried those first two eggs to term…"

"We'd be poor as shit and living in that apartment again," Karkat told her as he began to help himself. "And we wouldn't have Katrina. Personally, I think it's a good thing we lost the first two. Even though it still hurts."

Terezi sighed, stopping feeding Katrina to eat herself. "I know, but still…"

"Food!" Katrina squealed, reaching out towards the food on the table.

"Alright, let me get you some turkey, hold on," Terezi told her daughter as she began to cut the turkey into bite-sized pieces for the baby troll. "There. Is that better?"

* * *

**-6:19 pm/Bob & Peggy Evans' house-**

Vriska awkwardly listened in on the others' conversations as she ate her dinner. Out of all her experiences on Earth, being with John's family had to be the most awkward few. While some of them tried their best to make her feel part of the family, others seemed very judgmental and unaccepting.

"So, Vriska," Peggy asked after noticing the troll was silent, "have you found another job yet?"

The blue blood swallowed her food, now aware all eyes were on her. "Not yet," she uneasily replied, immediately thinking of the strip club. "There's nothing out there right now that's caught my interest, really."

"I see." Peggy now focused on her great-granddaughter, who was reaching for her mother from the high chair at one corner of the table.

"Mm, come here." Vriska took Casey out of the high chair and sat her down in her lap.

John's Aunt Joanna perked up, surprised that Vriska had taken an interest in her own daughter (she was a "stereotypical young mom", remember?"). "How is she?" the woman asked, setting her fork down on her plate. "Is she well-behaved?"

Vriska knew why her aunt by marriage was asking her this, but she tried to keep calm. "Actually,  _yes_ ," she said with a half-sarcastic smile on her face, "she's very well-behaved." She looked back down at her daughter and placed her back in the high chair so she could eat some more. "Of course she cries—that's expected—but she's rarely difficult."

"…I see." Aunt Joanna then turned to her nephew. "So, John, how is everything? Anything exciting happening?"

John thought for a moment. "Not really," he finally answered. "One of my best friends is getting married next summer, but that's pretty much it."

"Oh, are you going to be in his wedding?"

"Actually, my friend's a she," the brunet corrected, slightly irritated at his aunt's assumption. "I don't think she or her fiancée plan on having a bridal party, but the wedding's not until mid-summer, though…"

Joanna paused. "Do you know her fiancé?" she asked. "Is he nice?"

"I've known  _her_  for a while," Vriska stiffly told the older woman. "We've been best friends for almost our whole lives."

"They're… _lesbians_?" Aunt Joanna quietly whispered the second word. "They're both girls?"

"Yeah," John casually replied. "They're lesbians."

"Okay, Joanna, they're lesbians," Bob said in an irritated voice. "It's not a big deal. Calm down."

Joanna sighed with frustration and began to think of another topic to discuss. "…You know…" she finally said after a few moments, "…I've never really understood… _bisexuality_."

Vriska froze. First Aunt Joanna was mocking her moirail, now her sexual orientation? What was next?

"I mean, how can you be both gay  _and_  straight?" she continued. "You're either one or the other."

Vriska was beginning to sweat. On Alternia, sexual orientation wasn't really a big deal—pretty much everyone was bi, since there weren't any biological sexes. Everyone had both a nook and a bulge, so gender was determined by appearance. But Earth was different. People were discriminated against for stupid things, like sexual orientation, race, and religion (or lack thereof). On Alternia, she was in the highest class of blood caste, extremely rich, and feared by many trolls. But Earth? Her status had instantly been lost, especially when she had Casey at the age of 19.

On top of that, John's Aunt Joanna pissed her off already. The last Thanksgiving the woman had ranted to John behind Vriska's back, scolding the two about having Casey and getting married so young.

"And how can you still like girls if you married a guy, or still like guys if you married a girl—"

Vriska had had enough. She gripped her silverware, trying to steady her breathing and keep from making a scene.

"Vriska?" John asked, cocking his head. "Babe, are you okay?"

"No, I am  _not_  okay!" The cerulean-blood angrily threw the fork and knife down on the table and grabbed her purse as she got up.

"Vriska—" John got up from the table and followed his wife onto the enclosed back porch. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Aunt fucking Joanna, that's what!" Vriska shouted. "I have had enough of her bullshit, if she were a troll and we were on Alternia, I'd have slit her throat in half by now! That's how much I  _loathe_  her!"

"Shh, lower your voice!" John pulled Vriska onto the swing hanging from the ceiling. "I think you just need to chill for a while. Try not to talk to anyone, just hang out here. I can bring you your food if you want."

"I'm not hungry anymore." Vriska sighed and dug around in her purse for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "Go back inside and eat. Casey probably wants her Daddy."

John sighed. "Alright. I'll be back to check on you, okay?"

"Okay." Vriska sighed and lit a cigarette before bringing it to her lips.

* * *

**-6:45 pm-**

"Vriska?"

The troll looked up and blew out a puff of smoke, expecting her husband. Instead, it was her father-in-law.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead." She scooted over so Mr. Egbert could sit next to her.

"I need a break as well." Mr. Egbert brought out a pack of matches and sat down next to Vriska, pipe in mouth. "I know how annoying Maggie's sister is, and I'm awfully sorry about that."

Vriska let out a deep breath of smoke and sighed. "I can tell she has a hard time minding her own business and keeping things to herself," she calmly told the man.

Mr. Egbert nodded before breathing out some pipe smoke. "She's always been like that. I think I've already told you she used to hate me when Maggie and I were dating?"

Vriska nodded.

"The point is," Mr. Egbert continued, "just ignore it. I honestly think she does it just to irritate people." He took another puff of his pipe before looking back at Vriska. "I'm surprised she even found a husband," he whispered, causing Vriska to laugh.

"You've met Rose and Kanaya before," she said. "They're not bad people for being lesbians, are they?"

"Of course not! They're both sweet girls, and—don't tell John this, but—Rose's mother is quite attractive."

Vriska laughed, honestly surprised at Mr. Egbert's statement.

"I used to think John was gay," Mr. Egbert continued unexpectedly.

Vriska coughed. "Really?!" she exclaimed.

John's dad nodded. "He never seemed interested in girls during high school, which is why I thought so. Come to find out, he just hated everyone there. It honestly shocked me when he introduced you to me as his girlfriend."

"Hm." Vriska let the cigarette burn out before stomping it on the ground. "Well, I'm going to get something to drink," she told her father-in-law. "I'll be right back."

* * *

**-6:54 pm-**

"Joseph Egbert, you are  _insane_!" Joanna scolded.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Egbert replied, letting out a puff of pipe smoke.

"Oh, give me that!" His sister-in-law snatched the pipe from his hands and threw it on the ground, breaking it in half.

Mr. Egbert clenched his fists and let out an irritated sigh. "That was a $200 pipe," he calmly said, standing up to retrieve the remnants.

"Oh, tough luck!" Aunt Joanna crossed her arms. "I can't believe you would let your son marry someone as batshit crazy as that—that—Vriska!" she continued. "I'll bet you that's not even his kid."

"Don't you dare talk about my daughter-in-law and granddaughter like that," the older man said as he narrowed his eyes in disgust. "If Casey  _weren't_  John's child, he and Vriska wouldn't be married, and you know that."

"Oh, and another thing—"

"Joanna," Mr. Egbert firmly told the other woman, " _shut up._ "

Joanna crossed her arms, her mouth opened in confusion. "Excuse me?!" she exclaimed.

"I don't think we'll be coming here for Thanksgiving next year." Mr. Egbert picked his hat up off the swing and placed it on his head. "Maggie would be ashamed to call you her sister."

"You don't know what Maggie would think!"

"Happy Thanksgiving." Mr. Egbert quietly left the back porch, taking his things with them.

* * *

**-8:03 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Terezi nodded as she listened to Vriska rant through the phone. "Okay," she kept saying over and over, "mm-hmm, alright, yeah. Look, I'm sorry John's aunt is a bitch and all but I'm trying to get Katrina to sleep. We'll talk tomorrow, okay? Bye."

The teal-blood set her phone down on the dresser and continued to rock Katrina in the rocking chair. She was very thankful she hadn't married a human so she didn't have to put up with the extended family stuff!

Karkat quietly knocked on the open door before peeking his head inside the room. "Is Katrina asleep?" he whispered.

"Yeah, but I'm just trying to make sure she won't wake up when I put her down." Terezi continued to rock the child for a few more minutes while Karkat watched, then stood up and placed her in the crib. "Goodnight," she whispered as she pulled a blanket over Katrina, then quickly left the nursery and closed the door behind her.

"It looks like we'll be having turkey sandwiches for the next week," Karkat laughed as he and Terezi went into their bedroom.

"Oh, yay." Terezi yawned and sat down on the bed. "You know, I'm actually really happy we don't have any family besides Katrina and  _maybe_  Latula and Kankri. Vriska just told me John's dad had a huge argument with his aunt, and now they're never going to have Thanksgiving at his grandparents' house again or something. It didn't sound very fun."

"Wow, that…sucks." Karkat climbed into bed next to Terezi. "I don't have to work tomorrow, so we get to sleep in, thank God! Unless Katrina cries or something…"

"Let's hope she doesn't." Terezi smiled and pecked Karkat's nose. "I love you."

"I love you too." Karkat laughed before kissing his matesprit's forehead. "Goodnight."


	21. Noveria

**-Saturday, December 2, 4:37 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/7 1/2 months old-**

Terezi slowly walked down the stairs with a sigh, as she had just put Katrina down for a nap. Karkat was downstairs eating lunch, which Terezi was about to resume doing.

She was honestly surprised Mrs. Wilson-Lee let her off work that day. Later in the evening, she, Karkat, and Katrina were meeting up with the Egberts and Rose and Kanaya to go to the local Christmas festival in the park and around downtown. There would be craft booths, food trucks, music, and, of course, Christmas trees. Terezi just hoped Katrina would cooperate.

The teal-blood sat back down at the table across from her husband and picked up the half-rayed sandwich on her plate. "Hey, quick question," Karkat said as he looked up from his laptop, "if you had to choose between yellow and blue, which one would you pick?"

"Blue?" Terezi checked her phone with a shrug. "Why?"

"Holiday shopping." Karkat sighed and looked back at the screen. "We can look for stuff tonight, too."

Terezi was about to say something, but both her mobile app and Karkat's laptop beeped with a "new memo" popup on Pesterchum/Trollian.

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] opened memo on board why ii2 thii2 happeniing

TA: okay kk

TA: ii know you and tz probably don't want two be bothered

TA: but thii2 ii2 really iimportant

Karkat and Terezi glanced at each other. What could be so important that Sollux, who hadn't spoken to either of them in almost a year, would suddenly talk about?

\--carcinoGeneticist [CG] responded to memo--

CG: WHAT?

\-- gallowsCalibrator [GC] responded to memo--

GC: Y34H

GC: WH4T

CG: JUST HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THIS MEMO?

TA: everyone

TA: well not everyone

TA: you know what ii mean

\-- arachnidsGrip [AG] responded to memo--

AG: Why are we on a memo?

AG: Holy shit, I thought we had stopped talking to everyone!

\--adiosToreador [AT] responded to memoAT: uHH,,, 

AT: yOUVE TALKED TO ME,

AG: I know that, idiot! ::::(

\-- cuttlefishCuller [CC] responded to memo--

CC: Hi Vriska! 38D

TA: can we get two the poiint here guy2?

\-- caligulasAquarium [CA] responded to memo--

CA: can wwe though

TA: anywho

TA: the poiint ii2, none of u2 are 2afe, kk.

CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

TA: there'2 a thiing goiing around.

GC: WH4T TH1NG >:?

TA: noveriia.

AG: Noveria?!

AG: H8ly shit!

Karkat and Terezi stopped. Noveria?! That was one of the worst diseases known to troll, and there was an outbreak of it?!

It was kind of similar to the flu—the first symptoms seemed normal and nothing serious. But then the symptoms quickly—sometimes within a day—progressed to things much worse, eventually leading to the poor troll's death. There were no known cures.

The initial symptoms were coughing and sneezing—not necessarily in that order, but both were necessary for it to be Noveria. After those, the coughing soon progresses to dry hacking, and then coughing up blood. Once that happens, there's no turning back. The infected troll is certain to die.

After they begin to cough up blood, they become even weaker than they already have. They can no longer eat or drink, and if they manage to do so, they will vomit it back up. Their throat closes up and their breathing slows until they eventually cease to live. The disease progression can be as short as a day or as long as a week.

centaursTesticle [CT] responded to memo--

CT: D--> I would appreciate it if there were no foul language used in this memo

TA: thii2 i2 my memo not your2!

TA: anyway we were wonderiing iif iit would be po22iible for u2 two 2tay on earth wiith you guy2.

TA: ju2t untiil further notiice.

"Terezi?" Karkat asked, looking up from his laptop. "Are you sure about this?"

"I…don't know," she replied. "We have plans for tonight! I was looking forward to it being just us! And…I don't want anyone hurting Katrina. Especially Gamzee."

Karkat sighed, thinking of his ex-moirail and his wife's kismesis. "Terezi, I don't even think he's on this memo. I haven't seen him type anything at all. And we can always ask."

GC: F1N3

GC: 4S LONG 4S G4MZ33 DO3SNT COM3 TOO

GC: W3 C4N WORK OUT L1V1NG 4RR4NG3M3NTS L4T3R

AG: Are you sure, Terezi?

apocalypseArisen [AA] responded to memo--

AA: i am already dead

AA: s0 it d0esnt matter t0 me as much

AA: but i w0uld still like t0 c0me al0ng

CG: VRISKA, YOU DO REALIZE YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE SOME TOO.

AG: 8oo ::::(

AG: Fine.

AG: I guess well work out the living arr8ngements l8r.

arsenicCatnip [AC] responded to memo--

AC: :33 i'm okay with it! :33

TA: thank god

TA: okay, ii gue22 we wiill be over 2oon then

TA

"Shit!" Terezi shouted, her mouth falling open in realization. "They don't know about Katrina!"

"You're right," Karkat groaned. "Just…be prepared for lots of questions."

The two trolls just kind of sat at the table, anxiously awaiting their friends to arrive. After a few minutes, Karkat's phone buzzed with a text—

I just got the memo. Kanaya. I'm not sure if Rose and I will be able to take anyone, since her mother is still living with us.

It's fine, Karkat texted back. We're still going out tonight though.

Right when he pressed "send", the doorbell rang. He braced himself for Katrina to start screaming—which, surprisingly, didn't happen—and then braced himself to see everyone else.

"You go answer it," he whispered to Terezi.

"No, you go answer it."

"You!"

"No, you!"

"Fine, we'll BOTH answer it!"

Karkat grabbed Terezi's arm and dragged her over to the front door. After some hesitation, he unlocked the door and opened it.

Everyone just kind of awkwardly stared at each other before anyone made a move. "Hi!" Nepeta exclaimed, shivering a bit from the cold air.

"Okay, if we're going to do this, let's do it inside where it's warm." Karkat rolled his eyes and stepped out of the way so everyone could come inside.

"Good God…" Sollux squinted and looked down at the floor. "Why ith it tho bright in here?!"

"So we can see, dumbass!" Karkat plopped down on the couch, followed by a still silent Terezi.

"Where's Katrina?" Nepeta asked enthusiastically before remembering she was one of the only ones who knew about her. "Sorry—!"

"What's a Katrina?" Eridan asked with a disgusted look on his face.

Karkat and Terezi groaned simultaneously before glancing at each other. "Well, it's best we go ahead and get it over with," Terezi said to her husband.

Before he could say anything, a loud cry emerged from upstairs. "That's a Katrina," Karkat told everyone with a hint of sarcasm before starting upstairs.

"Since he's upstairs, I might as well tell you guys what's going on," Terezi sighed. "Okay, tonight we were planning on going out with Vriska and John and Kanaya and Rose, and we're still doing that. I guess whoever wants to come along can, but otherwise, stay here. Got it?"

The others just awkwardly nodded, waiting for something to happen.

"Where will we sleep?" Feferi asked with a little raise of her hand.

Terezi checked her phone to see if she had gotten a response from Vriska. "I told Vriska to come over here so we could get that worked out," she said. "She hasn't responded yet, though."

Right after Terezi finished saying that, she noticed Karkat coming downstairs with Katrina in his arms. She held her breath, waiting for everyone else to notice.

"This," Karkat nervously began as he stepped off the stairs, "is Katrina."

The tiny troll slowly looked up from her father's shoulder at the large group standing in the living room. "Da!" she exclaimed before burying her face in Karkat's chest.

"What the fuck?!" Sollux, as well as everyone else save Nepeta and Feferi, had a disgusted look on their faces. "You two…pailed?"

"May we remind you, on Earth it's normal." Terezi stuck up her nose. "Vriska and John have one too."

"She, uh…does," Tavros mumbled with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Speaking of Vriska…when will she get here?" exclaimed Feferi.

"Right…now!" Terezi nodded towards a window, where she saw Vriska, John, and Casey walking up to their house. Sure enough, the doorbell rang and she answered it.

"What's up, motherfuckers!" Vriska laughed before being elbowed by her husband. "What, John? We all talk like this back on Alternia!"

Equius coughed. "I do believe you are mistaken," he replied in a deep voice that scared John quite a bit.

"Is that…Casey?" Tavros slowly stepped away from the group to get a look at the thing he had only remembered being in Vriska's stomach. "How did she…come…out?"

"Oh god." John face palmed before taking Casey from his wife. "Okay, Rose and Kanaya will be here when?"

**-6:24 pm/Maple Valley Public Park-**

The only other trolls who wanted to come along were Feferi, Nepeta (who dragged Equius with her), and surprisingly, Sollux and Eridan. Nepeta and Feferi cooed all over the babies while everyone else pretty much talked.

"How bad is the outbreak, exactly…?" Kanaya asked Sollux, as he was one of the first to find out about it.

"I don't think ecthremely bad, but bad enough. It thtarted in the thity, tho I gueth that'th how it thpread tho badly."

"Karkat!" Terezi stopped the stroller and grabbed her matesprit's arm. "Look at all this stuff! We can buy some for Katrina!"

"Oh!" Karkat turned to Sollux and Eridan. "I'll be right back."

Vriska dug around in Casey's diaper bag for her wallet. "I'm gonna go buy some things too," she told John before handing him the bag and walking to the booth of children's clothes and toys.

After Karkat and Terezi had bought a couple of board books and a doll, they went back over to the group, who was still waiting on Vriska.

"I still can't believe you had a kid," Eridan told Karkat with a disgusted scowl. "It's disgusting!"

"My child is not disgusting." Terezi, who had overheard, turned up her nose.

Karkat rolled his eyes and turned back to his friends. "Anyway," he replied, "we actually…wanted to have her. Just for…personal reasons."

"'Perthonal reathonth'? That thoundth groth," Sollux told the mutant-blood. "I gueth she ith kind of cute, though…"

"Good." Both of the grown Vantases smiled and continued down the long street of craft booths.

**-7:53 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

"Mama!" Katrina cried, wiggling her arms and legs before getting picked up out of the stroller.

"I don't think you're tired," Terezi laughed, kissing her daughter on the cheek while everyone else uncomfortably watched.

"Okay!" Vriska exclaimed, trying to change the subject. "Feferi, Tavros, you come with me. I guess I will see you all tomorrow." She grabbed the hands of her two "friends" and left the Vantases' house for her own.

Terezi sat Katrina down on the floor, who immediately crawled over to the couch and pulled herself up.

Seeing his daughter do this, Karkat immediately knelt down on the floor and held out his arms. "Are you trying to walk, Princess?" he sweetly asked her, nodding in encouragement.

Terezi and Karkat eagerly watched as their daughter slowly let go of the couch and put one chubby foot in front of the other.

"Is she trying to walk?!" Nepeta exclaimed.

"Go away, we're having a moment!" Karkat turned back around to look at Katrina as the other trolls scurried into the kitchen.

"I'm recording, I'm recording!" Terezi told her husband as Katrina took her first of many baby steps. Putting one foot in front of the other soon became very easy, and soon Karkat scooped her up in his arms and tossed her into the air, kissing her cheek once he caught her.

"You did it, Princess!" he exclaimed, kissing her cheek again. Terezi made sure the video was saved before running over to her daughter and giving her a hug.

The teal-blood nuzzled her cheek against her daughter's and picked the tiny troll up. "I'm so proud of you!"

Katrina smiled and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. "It's about time she started walking," Karkat laughed as he stood up.

"We got it on video, too," Terezi smiled. "I'll post it to Facebook first thing—"

A tiny sneeze interrupted the conversation between the two.

Karkat and Terezi looked at each other.

"Oh no."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Noveria is the name of a planet in Mass Effect, blah blah blah, I don't play Mass Effect so I didn't know until one of my friends who does told me, blah blah blah,


	22. Augeth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two surprises here.

After the sneezing came the coughing.

It was so bad it almost sounded like Katrina was choking. Despite their fear of catching it, Karkat and Terezi would take turns patting their daughter's back, praying it was only congestion. The other trolls nervously watched, wondering who on Earth—rather, Alternia—could have been a carrier for Noveria without actually having the disease.

Everyone somehow managed to get to sleep that night, even Katrina. But it didn't last long—around two in the morning, the tiny mutant-blood erupted in crying that woke up the entire household. Karkat and Terezi quickly ran to the nursery and found their daughter shivering, but was hot to the touch. When Terezi took her temperature, it came out at almost 103° Fahrenheit.

"Karkat…" Terezi whispered, "…I think she's caught it."

"Shh, hey, we don't know that." Karkat did his best to sound calm and, for once, was tryingn to look at the positives of the situation. "She hasn't started coughing up blood, and unless she does that, she doesn't have it."

"What'th going on?" Sollux asked, interrupting the couple. "I heard her crying, ith she okay?"

Terezi let out a long sigh. "…I'm starting to think she has it," she quietly confessed. "There's nothing we can do but wait it out."

Sollux paused, thinking. He knew of a possible solution to the problem, but he wasn't sure if it would work…

"I…know thomeone who might be able to help."

"Well?!" Karkat demanded to know.

"Her name is Augeth Cofruv," the yellow-blood told Karkat. "She liveth not too far away from my hive. She'th really good with medithinal thtuff and curing thingth. Not legally, of course, thinthe that kind of thtuff ith banned by the Condethe, but…if you  _really_  need help, I might be able to take you to her."

"If this Augess—"

"Augeth. I don't lithp all the time, KK."

"—this Augeth person might be able to help Katrina, I want her to do whatever she can."

* * *

-twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling textbookParadox [TP]-

TA: augeth?  
TP: SOLLUX!  
TP: I #AVEN'T TALKED TO YOU IN FOREVER!  
TP: #OW ARE YOU?  
TA: actually, ii need two ask a favor.  
TP: GO A#EAD.  
TA: one of my friiends needs help.  
TP: W#AT KIND OF #ELP?  
TA: iit miight bee noveriia.  
TP: #OLY S#IT.  
TP: COME RIG#T OVER. YOU KNOW W#ERE TO FIND ME.

-textbookParadox [TP] has disconnected-

* * *

"So?" Karkat asked. "What did she say?"

"She thaid it'th fine to come over. Jutht pack thome thtuff and get me when you're ready."

* * *

After packing some clothes and snacks, and emailing their bosses and Terezi's professor, Karkat and Terezi were ready to go. Terezi had dressed Katrina in her tiny coat and had wrapped her in a blanket, just to be safe. The youngest Vantas seemed to be shivering even more than she had been earlier, which nearly convinced Karkat it was only the flu.

Thankfully Augeth's hive wasn't too far away from Sollux's—only about 20 minutes on foot. Sollux nervously knocked on the door as soon as the anxious group arrived, waiting for an answer.

The door opened and Karkat and Terezi looked up. Standing at the entrance was a troll about the same age as they were, with long, straight black hair and large forked horns. She was wearing the standard Alternian fashion (black T-shirt and dark colored pants) with a white lab coat over it. She curiously looked at the party standing outside her hive, but then remembered the whole reason why they were there.

"Oh, do come in," she told them, stepping out of the way so they could come in. "I'm Augeth Cofruv, nice to meet you, now what seems to be the problem?"

Karkat and Terezi glanced at each other before anyone made a sound.

"We think...she might have Noveria," Terezi quietly told her acquaintance as she revealed Katrina.

Augeth gasped before rushing them into a side room. "I haven't seen a troll that young in  _sweeps!_ Oh my god, where did you find her?!"

"Just...never mind. Do you think you can do anything?"

"Well, um..." the troll paused. "...What are her symptoms? Has she started coughing up blood yet?"

"Not yet," Karkat told her. "She's just been...regular coughing?..., and sneezing, and running a high fever."

"I've never heard of a fever being a symptom; it must be her body trying to fight off the infection." Augeth ran to a bookshelf on the other side of the room and yanked a book off the shelf, then proceeded to flip through the pages. "I'm trying to see if I can find a disease that matches all the criteria..."

After maybe a minute of flipping through the pages, Augeth slammed the book shut and sighed. "I couldn't find anything," she sadly told everyone. "I'm sorry, but I'll still try my best to help you."

"Thank you," Terezi sighed.

"Oh, please forgive me!" Augeth turned around and approached the others. "I've introduced myself, but never asked you all for your names!"

"I'm Karkat, that's Terezi, and that—" He pointed to his daughter. "—is Katrina."

Augeth nodded before looking more closely at Katrina. "Just for reference, what's her blood color?"

Karkat and Terezi stared at each other. "Uh...uhm..."

"Teal!" Sollux quickly improvised for the Vantases. "She'th a teal-blood."

Terezi nodded and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, I have lots of things that can help her then." Augeth paused. "I have a recooperacoon in the back I use for patients, I'll see if I can find something about her size to pour some slime into, alright?"

"Thank you," Karkat sighed. He and Terezi sat down in some chairs in a corner as they awaited further instruction.

* * *

**-Monday, December 4, 1:18 am/Augeth's hive-**

Everyone thought Katrina wsd getting better, but she was actually getting worse.

She hasn't coughed or sneezed in a while, but when she finally did, there was blood. Karkat or Terezi, whoever was holding her, quickly wiped away the blood before Augeth could see anything. They didn't fail to tell her, however; she was preparing something to temporarily stop the bleeding.

"Alright, I think it's finished..." Augeth gave the mixture one last stir before turning to her tiny patient. "This can only stop the bleeding temporarily; in the meantime, I'll find more recipes that might help."

Augeth knelt down and slowly gave the liquid mixture to Katrina. The toddler showed no response to the drug for several seconds. But then she began to cough it back up...along with some blood.

Terezi, who was closest to Katrina, tried her best to hide her daughter's candy-red blood, but failed when Augeth grabbed her hand to prevent her from wiping it away.

"It's not...it isn't..." She didn't know what to say. This was a blood color she had never seen throughout her nine sweeps, and it was honestly shocking. "She...she shouldn't exist! How on Alternia did she survive the caverns?!"

Karkat held his breath. He wasn't sure if he should tell her.

"Why did you lie to me?!" Augeth demanded. "Or rather, why did you let Sollux lie?!" (Sollux had gone back to his hive the previous evening.) " _That's_  why the medicine didn't work! It was meant for a midblood!  _Not_  for someone not even on the hemospectrum!"

"I'm...sorry," Terezi admitted. "We didn't know how to tell you. We thought you might refuse to help her if you knew!"

Augeth sighed and put her hand over her eyes. "I'm not sure what I can do now," she said quietly. "I only have books of remedies for trolls on the hemospectrum. I'd have to try all of them to try and help Katrina."

"Wait." Karkat stopped. Was he  _really_  ready to tell Augeth the truth? About him and Terezi being married and Katrina being their offspring? If he did, what would happen? "I think we should have told you something the moment we first got here."

Terezi put her hand on Karkat's shoulder. "Karkat—"

"Katrina is really —"

Suddenly it all came together for Augeth. Two trolls, with an obviously close relationship, came in carrying a sick wriggler. They refused to talk about some things, or weren't completely honest about them. Why did the pointy-horned troll seem so secretive about her eyes, and always insisted on keeping her glasses on? Why did the nubby-horned troll seem to card about the tiny one so much? Trolls weren't naturally this caring or nurturing. Most trolls would have left Katrina to die if they found her.

Before Karkat could say anything else, Augeth looked up at him.

"She's yours, isn't she?"

* * *

**-3:37 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

John sighed as he leaned back in his chair and stared at the computer screen. He couldn't  _wait_ to finish his essay, since he had promised Vriska they'd watch a Nic Cage movie together once he finished. Currently, Vriska was playing with Casey in the living room, and he wanted to be a part of that as well.

He hit "save" and stood up to get some snacks. He wished he were out of college already so he didn't have to write essays anymore!

Once he was back in the study and had been nibbling and typing for about five minutes, his phone began to ring.

Dave! The week before he had mentioned Jade would be staying with him and Bro for about a month, and he was interested to see how that would work out.

"Hello?"

"John." Dave's voice sounded urgent, and besides, he never called John by his first name.

"Dave, what is it?"

"Egbert." Dave let out a nervous laugh. "I have a kid."


	23. Secrets Revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a sprite of Augeth: fav.me/d7n9ue3

**-Augeth’s hive-**

 

“H-how did you know?!” Karkat asked, glancing at Terezi with a nervous expression on his face.

 

“It was simple, really.”  Augeth sighed as she sat down in a chair near the Vantases.  “It all came together when I saw her blood color.  Normal trolls wouldn’t even touch a troll of this blood color, let alone raise it as their own!  Well, excepting the Dolorosa and the Sufferer, but...that aside, how did you two even find her?!!”

 

Karkat was about to say something, but Terezi stopped him before he could say anything.  “This has to be kept confidential,” she stressed to the yellow-blooded troll.  “The Condesce already knows, but we don’t want word getting out to everyone, alright?”  Augeth nodded for Terezi to continue.  “When we say she’s ours...she literally is ours.  We made her.”

 

Augeth’s jaw dropped.  “But...how did you...avoid the drones?  Wouldn’t they have killed you both?  Or wait, wait, wait...how were you able to identify your own grub out of the thousands in the caverns--”

 

“We didn’t,” Terezi interrupted.  “She came out of me.  I carried her inside of me for several months, and then she came out.”

 

“But...how did you avoid being culled?!  It’s not natural!  And--and--trolls can reproduce naturally?!”

 

Karkat nodded.  “We learned that the, uh...hard way.

 

“I still don’t understand how you two didn’t get culled,” Augeth restated, now more calmly.  “The drones would have found you!”

 

“Well, the truth is…”  Terezi paused.  “...we don’t live here.  Not in this city, not in the next, not anywhere within a thousand-mile radius of this place.  We live on Earth.  With the humans.”

 

“What...the...fuck!”  Augeth let out a exasperated sigh.  “But how did...why did?”

 

Terezi looked at Karkat, signaling for him to tell this part.  “Well, uh...we both wanted to run away.    We both hated this stupid, classist, murderous society, and wanted to get out.  Wanted to get out because both of us would be killed.”

 

“Why would you get killed?”

 

“I’m a mutant just like Katrina.”

 

“And I’m blind,” Terezi added, lifting up her glasses to expose her scorched red corneas.

 

“Holy shit.”  Augeth blinked again to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.  “Well, that explains that, but...trolls can reproduce?  How?”

 

“Well...the same as humans, really.”  Karkat coughed before proceeding to tell the story of how Katrina was made in as little detail as possible, Terezi adding details every so often.  Although Augeth found it interesting, she also found it quite disturbing.

 

The yellow-blooded troll grimaced and looked down at the floor.  "I'm not so sure I needed to hear _all_  of that, but it was quite interesting," she told Karkat.  "Now I wonder why the Condesce would prevent us all from—"

 

Before she could say anything else, a sickening gurgle was heard from across the room.  The three adult trolls whipped their heads around, only to see Katrina nearly drowning in her own blood.

 

"Oh my god, oh my god," Terezi repeated over and over, rushing over to the tiny tub full of slime and scooping her daughter out of it.  "What can you do to help?!"

 

Augeth sighed and closed her eyes.  "I know you really don't want to hear this," she hesitantly began, "but…Katrina doesn't have much longer.  At the rate she's losing blood, I'd say only a few hours."

 

At that exact moment time stopped.  They couldn't believe it.  There was no way their daughter could be dying.  Not this soon, not because of this.  Terezi slowly looked up at her husband, teal tears beginning to form in her eyes as she held her baby girl's limp body closer to her chest.  Despite how hard he tried, Karkat couldn't keep himself from crying.  This was his daughter, his little Princess...and she would be gone within a few hours.

 

Before looking back up at the Vantases, Augeth swallowed hard.  "Do you want me to leave you three alone?" she quietly asked.  Once she received a nod, she let out another sigh before trudging upstairs.

 

* * *

 

**-Dave & Bro's apartment-**

 

"What the _fuck_ , Jade!" exclaimed Dave.  He stared down at the baby in the car seat with wide eyes.  "When you said you had a surprise for me, I expected it to be something, y'know… _normal_?!"

 

"Well, I'm sorry!"  Jade rolled her eyes before forcing the car seat into Dave's hands.  "Since he's _your_  kid too, why don't you take him inside while I get the bags?"

 

Before Dave could protest, the car seat was in his hands.  He sighed as he took the baby into the penthouse apartment he shared with Bro.

 

Dave set the car seat down on the table and decided to take a good look at his apparent kid.  He was sound asleep and probably had no idea where he was (which was probably a good thing, since Jade had _lots_ of explaining to do).  He had his mother's tan skin and dark hair, which was to be expected.  Since he was sleeping, Dave couldn't see his eyes, but he was secretly hoping they were Jade's green eyes rather than his ungodly shade of red.

 

"I named him after you, you know," Jade said suddenly, making Dave jump a bit.

 

Dave looked up at Jade through his shades.  "Really?"

 

"Mm-hm."  Jade smiled.  "David Blake—"  
  


"—Strider, Jr.," Dave finished for his girlfriend with a smile.

 

"No," she told him with a shake of her head.  "David Blake _Harley_."

 

"Why Harley?  He's my kid, isn't he?"

 

"You weren't there to sign the birth certificate, so he had to have my last name."  She paused.  "I just call him Blake."  He had his mother’s tan skin and dark hair, which was to be expected.  Since he was sleeping, Dave couldn’t see his eyes, but he was secretly hoping they were Jade’s green eyes rather than his ungodly shade of reddish-brown.

 

The blond nodded and looked back down at Blake.  “While we’re at it,” he began, “how exactly did you get away with not telling me you had a kid--my kid-- for like, what?  Fourteen months?  Over a whole fucking year?!”

 

“Look, Dave--”  Jade hesitated.  “--I know I told you I got an abortion.  But...I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I kept putting off going to the clinic, and kept putting it off over and over again…before I knew it I was already too far along to even get one...I’m sorry, Dave, I really am!  I should’ve just sucked it up and gotten the stupid abortion like I told you I would--”

 

“Jade, it’s fine!  I guess…”  Dave let his sentence awkwardly trail off.  “I mean, I”m still kinda mad you didn’t tell me about him all this time, but...I don’t know.  I wanna help out with him.”

 

The dark-haired girl laughed and smiled.  “I guess it’s best we introduce him to you now than when he can talk!”  
  


Just then Bro came into the room and stopped.  His eyes slowly drifted down to the car seat on the table, then to the baby inside.  He looked back up at his younger brother and his girlfriend and raised an eyebrow.

 

“What the fuck?!”

 

* * *

 

 

**-John & Vriska’s house/3:48 pm-**

 

“Vriska?” Feferi asked, looking up from the TV to her cerulean-blooded friend.  “Have you heard from Terezi or Karkat at all today?”

 

The other female troll paused to check her phone for messages.  “...No, not yet.  I hope nothing bad has happened…”  She locked her phone and sat it back down on the coffee table.  “Wait, wait, wait, this is my favorite part--!”

 

Right after she said that her phone buzzed with a text message.  She hit “pause” on the DVD remote with an irritated sigh before picking her phone back up.

 

“Oh my god,” she gasped, slowly looking up from the blue iPhone and off into the distance.

 

“What?” Feferi asked.  “What is it?”

 

Vriska swallowed hard, slowly turning to the heiress with a shocked expression on her face.  “Katrina’s dead.”


	24. O Holy Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a miracle happens.

**-Augeth's hive-**

Terezi couldn't believe it.

In fact, she refused to believe it.

Katrina could  _not_  be dead. There was no way. Just two days ago she was fine.

And now she was gone.

Karkat wanted to punch himself for being so stupid. He wanted to punch Augeth for not being able to save Katrina. And lastly, he wanted to punch Terezi for ever convincing him to have a child with her in the first place.

He couldn't do anything about it, and was most angry at that fact.

Terezi choked out another sob as she slowly brushed some hair out of Katrina's pale, lifeless face. "She wasn't even a year old yet," she sniffed, looking up at Karkat.

Augeth sighed as she looked up at the Vantases. "I am so,  _so_  sorry," she quietly told them. "I wish I could have done something to help."

"You couldn't do anything about it." Terezi sniffed, refusing to look up at the yellow-blooded troll.

A sudden banging on the door caused everyone to whip their heads around to face it. "What the…?" Augeth exclaimed, slowly beginning to approach the door. "It's the middle of the day, who in their  _right mind_  would be coming here?!"

Despite being confused, she still went up to the door and opened it.

"Hooooooooly shit," Augeth said, her eyes widening. The yellow-blood slowly began to back up, but was shoved aside by a certain gloved hand.

"Outta my way, ya filthy lowblood," the Condesce scoffed, not even bothering to look at Augeth as she walked to where Karkat and Terezi were hunched over Katrina's body on the floor. "I gotta take care a some shit, and then I'll be outta here."

Karkat furrowed his brow and scowled at the Alternian ruler. "What are  _you_  doing here?" he demanded, trying to block Katrina from her view. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with mutants."

Condy rolled her eyes and began to take off one of her gloves. "The only reason I'm doin' this is 'cause y'all know my great-grandson. And I'll need the lil' shit when she's older anyway."

The Condesce took off her other glove and glared at the other grown trolls in the room, making them step back while she did her thing.

Karkat and Terezi couldn't actually see what the ruler was doing, and they were kind of afraid to look. But after a minute or so, a tiny coughing sound was heard.

The tiny coughs soon turned into a small cry, sounding more like a newborn baby since air was entering Katrina's lungs for the first time in twenty minutes. Once the deed had been done, Condy quickly stood up and moved out of the way.

Karkat and Terezi immediately ran over to where their daughter was lying. "Katrina," Terezi cried, tears streaming down her face. "Oh, you're okay!"

Katrina was still crying and had no idea what was going on, as she had been dead for the past twenty minutes. She finally calmed down when Karkat picked her up and began brushing her hair with his fingers.

"Hey Princess," he whispered, "it's okay. Daddy's right here. You'll be okay."

"Ugh, I am _so happy_ I don't haveta deal with that shit anymore," Condy mumbled as she rolled her eyes.

Terezi wiped her eyes and turned around to face the Condesce. "Thank you," she sniffed. "Thank you _so_ much."

"Look, don't go expectin' me to take care a shit whenever somethin' bad happens, aight? It ain't my fault if it was just y'all or her bein' stupid."

The Vantases nodded quickly and glanced at Augeth, who was leaning against a wall, terrified.

"Aight, well…" The Condesce sighed and began to walk back to where two bodyguards were waiting. "I ain't gonna show up every time, don't try an' pull sneaky shit, make sure John and Vriska take good care a lil' Cassia, aight?"

* * *

 

Within a few days, Augeth notified the Vantases that it was safe for the other trolls to return to Alternia. Noveria had run its course in the major Alternian cities, with the death toll coming out at several thousand (not like anyone cared, since on Alternia, the weak needed to be eliminated from society).

Katrina showed no signs of the disease being present in her body. After just one day of being back at home, she was able to crawl, and a couple of days after that, she was practicing her recently learned skill of walking.

Although many good things had happened, the holiday season was quickly approaching. Terezi had finals mid-month, and had missed a good bit of review days with Katrina being sick. The Starbucks Karkat worked at was flooding with customers wanting something to warm them up from outside. They were, however, looking forward to the three weeks Terezi had off…

* * *

**-Saturday, December 24, 7:38 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/8 months old-**

"Okay, I'll be sure to tell him that. Merry Gri—um, Christmas. Merry Christmas!" Terezi laughed nervously before hanging up. The people whom Karkat and Terezi could call "friends" were making their annual Christmas Eve calls, which was kind of awkward for the Vantases.

She sighed and threw her phone on the couch, getting ready to plop down and watch a  _Law & Order _Christmas special. But just as she was about to do so, her phone rang yet again.

"Yeah?" It was Vriska. "What's going on?"

On the other side of the line, Vriska rolled her eyes. "Both Casey and John are sick," she sighed. "John's throwing up. The day before Christmas, too."

"That sucks." The teal-blood laid back on the couch and switched on the TV. "Is it contagious?"

"Nah, just some human thing. Casey got vaccinated last week, too, so hopefully she won't catch anything worse."

Terezi began to flip through the channels and said, "That's good, I guess. Karkat's upstairs reading a story to Katrina—"

"She's a baby, she can't read yet!"

"If she can talk, she'll be able to read soon."

"Whatever." Vriska sighed, just in time for Casey to begin screaming from upstairs. "Well, Casey's not feeling well right now, so I'll have to see what she wants. Merry Christmas."

"You too." Terezi hung up and threw her phone on the ground, now hoping for some actual TV.

* * *

**-Sunday, December 25, 9:20 am-**

Karkat's eyes slowly opened and he blinked. The house was silent, save for Terezi's snoring and the air conditioner. There was something special about this day, but he couldn't quite remember what.

He rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 9:20 am—surely Katrina would be up by now? So he quietly got out of bed, making sure to not wake his wife, and went down the hallway to Katrina's nursery.

"Da!" Katrina exclaimed, jumping up and down in the crib. Karkat chuckled and reached into the crib.

"Good morning, Princess," he smiled, lifting her out. "It's time to eat, okay? Don't get too loud; Mama's still sleeping."

Katrina seemed to nod as she tightly gripped her father's shirt. Karkat barely even noticed as he continued to take her downstairs.

After putting Katrina in her high chair and giving her some Cheerios, Karkat went to check his phone for messages. He unplugged the phone and looked at the screen—

"Holy shit, it's Christmas." He turned around and looked at his daughter. "It's Christmas, Katrina! Do you know what that means?"

The small troll stopped eating and looked up at Karkat. "Da," she simply responded, seemingly hoping for an answer.

Karkat decided now would be a good time to make breakfast, and decided to surprise Terezi with it already made. "That means you're going to get lots of presents, and eat good food, and—"

"You're already up?" Terezi walked into the kitchen and rubbed her eyes before slipping on her glasses. "Were you making pancakes?"

The mutant-blood nodded as he poured some milk into a measuring cup. "Do you want some?"

"I guess." She yawned and sat down at the table next to Katrina's high chair. "Merry Christmas, Katrina."

* * *

**-John & Vriska's house/11:04 am-**

Vriska had only gotten four hours of sleep and was feeling like shit.

John was hacking up his lungs (not literally, of course) and was constantly getting out of bed to throw up, causing Vriska to wake up several times. On top of that, Casey cried out at least once every hour due to having no other way to express her discomfort. Eventually, the blue-blood just went to sleep in the spare bedroom, but was still being woken up by her daughter.

She heard footsteps from down the hall and sat up in the bed just as John peeked his head into the third bedroom. "Vris?" he croaked, sniffing.

"I'm here." Vriska turned on the lamp next to her. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry-Christmas." John coughed again. "Once Casey gets up we'll open presents, okay? I just want to get it over with."

"Okay," Vriska nodded with a sigh. She hated that her family wasn't feeling well, but she couldn't do anything about it except wait for it to pass.

* * *

**-1:27 pm/Dave & Bro's apartment-**

"Holy shit, it's almost 1:30." Dave picked up Blake and sat him down in his lap. "We'd better start opening the stuff then."

What had intended to be a two- or three-week visit for Jade and Blake actually turned out to be a visit through the New Year, after their flight back to Hawaii got cancelled the day before it was supposed to take off. So she had decided they'd just stay and have Christmas with Dave and Bro.

Dave was honestly surprised, but Blake had gotten used to him. At first, the baby didn't like to be held, but within a few days had warmed up to his father and actually wanted to be held by him more than he did his mother.

Once Bro had grabbed a slice from one of the many pizzas in the fridge and sat down with the other three, they decided it was time to open presents. Dave had decided to go first, and attempted to hand Blake a small gift bag with skateboards on the side.

Jade rolled her eyes and grabbed it before it could fall out of her son's lap. "Great, what's  _this_?" she laughed as she began to take tissue paper out of it.

A tiny pair of aviators fell out of the bag and Jade laughed. "No," she said, picking them up off the floor. "Dave, he is  _not_ wearing these."

"Aw, why not?" the blond pouted. "He's a Strider, ain't he?"

"He IS, but just because he's a Strider doesn't mean he has to wear sunglasses all the time!" Jade put the tiny sunglasses back in the bag and set it aside. "He'll have eye problems or something."

Dave rolled his eyes but continued to smile. "Whatever."

* * *

**-Karkat & Terezi's house/8:28 pm-**

It hadn't really been a day for the Vantases, even though it  _was_  Christmas.

Karkat had surprised Terezi with a new phone, since the one she'd had before was about to break. He'd also bought her some new clothes that were appropriate to wear to her internship at an attorney's office, so she was happy about that.

Since Terezi had college, a job, and an internship, she hadn't really had the time to go shopping for Karkat alone. So, even though she didn't really want to, she took the easy way out and just got him some gift cards.

Katrina probably got the best things out of anyone, since she was the main focus. She got lots of new toys and (sadly) had already determined her favorites. After they let her play for a while, the three sat on the couch and watched several Christmas specials before Terezi put Katrina down for a nap.

The living room was littered with wrapping paper and gift bags and tissue papers, but Karkat and Terezi didn't care.

Katrina was alive, and that was all that mattered.


	25. New Year's Eve

**-Wednesday, December 28, 5:19 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Karkat had just finished feeding Katrina when the phone rang.

He sighed as he picked up his phone to answer it. It was John—what did  _he_  want? Wasn't he still sick, like Vriska had said? Even though Karkat didn't want to talk, he decided to answer it anyway.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Karkat." John sniffed. "What's up?"

"Uhh, Katrina?" Karkat rolled his eyes. "That's what I've been doing since May?"

"I figured," replied John with a sigh. "Anyway, this Saturday Vris and Casey and I'll be going over to my dad's house for New Years', and we were wondering if you guys wanted to come too."

Karkat paused to think for a moment. "...Who all will be there?"

"Well, me, Vris, and Casey, obviously," John told him, "and Rose and Kanaya, and my grandparents and a couple of my aunts and uncles, and...did I tell you my dad is dating Rose's mom now?"

"What? Ew." The mutant-blood furrowed his brow and began to take his daughter, who had finished eating, out of her high chair. "What does Rose think about it?"

On the other side of the line, John shrugged. "I don't know. She hasn't really talked about it. But…" He paused. "I'm not sure if you knew this already, but she's never met her dad before, and I'm still not sure if she's comfortable talking about it."

"Okay…?" Karkat still had trouble understanding the concept of a dysfunctional family, since the only type of family he'd ever learned about was the stereotypical "dad/mom/kids" kind. He didn't understand how a child could hate-or in Rose's case, strongly disagree with-their own parent(s), and also just couldn't grasp the concept of divorced, separated, or single parents (without a death in the family, as in John's case). "But, uh, yeah. We'll be there."

"Great. It's at my dad's house on the 31st at eight."

* * *

**-Saturday, December 31, 7:49 pm/John & Vriska's car-**

"It's okay, Casey, we're almost there," Vriska mumbled through gritted teeth as John turned onto the street his dad's house was on. Casey had started crying for no reason, and it was getting annoying.

"Hey, look, Peanut," John sighed as he began to turn into the driveway. "We're at Grandpa's house!"

Once the baby noticed the car slowing to a stop, her crying started to diminish.

Her crying had totally stopped by the time they reached the front door. "Okay," Vriska said, breathing out a long sigh as she reached out to ring the doorbell.

Inside, Mr. Egbert set a bowl of potato chips on the counter and went to answer the door. "Come on in," he told his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. "Your Uncle Steve and Aunt Brooke are already here, and your grandparents, but we're still waiting on everyone else."

"Okay," John said as he stepped over the threshold into his father's house.

Inside, Uncle Steve and Aunt Brooke were watching their three kids, but stood up when John, Vriska, and Casey came into the living room. "Hey!" Uncle Steve exclaimed, jumping up out of a chair. "How's my favorite nephew?!"

"I'm twenty-two, not ten!" John laughed before giving Steve a one-armed hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Uncle Steve replied with a smile, turning to look at Casey. "And how's Casey?"

"Casey's good." Vriska smiled and leaned up against John. "A little whiny on the way over here, but not anymore."

"Well, I guess that's better than her crying." Uncle Steve paused before turning back over to his wife. "Brooke, didn't you want to say something?"

John's Aunt Brooke shook her head. "Not yet. Maybe later."

Mr. Egbert was about to say something, but an engine rev interrupted his thought. "I wonder who that is?"

Once he realized who it was, though, he ran outside to meet them.

"Everyone," he began, slowly walking into the foyer, "this is my girlfriend, Roxy, her daughter, Rose, and Rose's girlfriend, Kanaya."

Everyone reacted with expressions of joy and surprise. "You never told me you were looking to date again!" Peggy playfully exclaimed as she entered the room. "It's about time!"

"Well," Mr. Egbert laughed, "sixteen years of waiting was long enough. It was about time I found someone."

"And we're happy you did." Peggy paused and turned to her former son-in-law's new girlfriend. "Hi, I'm Peggy, John's grandma. It's so nice to meet you."

"You too." Roxy smiled and awkwardly shook the older woman's hand.

Everyone else introduced themselves to Roxy, Rose, and Kanaya, then waited for the remaining people to arrive. Soon, John noticed headlights in the driveway and sighed with relief.

"Karkat and Terezi are here," he whispered to his friends, then prepared to greet the family.

* * *

**-9:05 pm-**

Karkat and Terezi had arrived with a bit of a hassle. Katrina had been the same way as Casey, crying non-stop the entire way to Mr. Egbert's house. But things soon got better when the baby troll realized her "friend" was also there, and even got along well with Annabelle (Steve and Brooke's two-year-old daughter).

After eating and chatting with the others for quite a while, Mr. Egbert finally stood up to get everyone's attention. "Everyone," he began with a smile, glancing at John and Roxy, specifically, "I have an announcement to make."

"Are you getting married?"asked Bob with a serious expression.

"No, Roxy and I just started dating in December!" Mr. Egbert sighed before deciding to continue. "Anyway, my announcement is I've decided to quit my job."

The guests at the party were rather confused at the man's statement. "...Why?" John asked his dad with a perplexed look. "I thought you liked your job?"

"Not as much as I used to," Mr. Egbert confessed. "It's just not something I enjoy anymore. So, I've decided to quit and open a bakery."

A bakery! "Why a bakery?"

"Because  _you_  aren't here to eat anything I make. Or, you  _won't_  eat anything I make." John's dad chuckled. "Anyway, I'm still trying to get everything worked out, but I think I'm going to buy one of the empty shops downtown."

"That's wonderful, dear," Peggy smiled. "I'm excited to hear about how it turns out."

* * *

**-11:57 pm/Dave & Bro's Apartment-**

"I got him to sleep," Jade sighed, walking out of the spare bedroom where she had Blake's travel crib set up. "Three minutes to spare."

"Sweet." Dave cracked a smile as his girlfriend joined him on the couch. "11:58. Two more minutes."

Jade sighed again and turned towards Dave. "Thank you so much for letting us stay for so long," she told him. "And...thanks for not breaking up with me."

"Why would I break up with you?"

"I just...wasn't sure if you would be like those awful boyfriends who break up with their girlfriends when they find out there's a baby."

"Jade." Dave laughed. "I'd never do that. I mean, yeah, it was a...surprise, but...he's a cool little dude."

He looked at the clock. 11:59.

"I'm glad you think so." Jade smiled and pecked Dave with a kiss.

"Uh, Jade." The blond coughed. "I know we've been dating a while, even though we live in two different states with several other states and a fucking ocean in between us. I know it's been hard for us to date, but we've made the best of it with Skype calls and text messages and visiting each other liked we are now. And now that we have Blake...I think it'd be good if we changed some of that."

The clock on the microwave beeped. 12 am, New Year's day.

"Jade Harley, will you marry me?"

Jade gasped, her eyes widening. Dave didn't have a ring, but he seemed super serious about it. Even waiting until midnight on New Year's to ask her.

"Dave…" Jade's voice got quiet. "I'm sorry. I can't."


	26. The Freemans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some family friends come for a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter relies heavily on things mentioned at the beginning of chapter 11.
> 
> Also this chapter is weird because lots of mentions of Italian food.

**-Monday, January 1, 12:21 pm/John & Vriska 's house/7 3/4 months old-**

"Egbert, she fucking rejected me! God, I can't believe she fucking rejected me!"

"Dave." John sighed and took his phone off of speaker. "I'm sure Jade had a perfectly good reason as to why...wait, isn't she in the car with you?"

"Nah," Dave told John with an irritated grunt. "She went inside to pick up take-out. I'm in the car with Blake."

"Oh." John spun around in his chair, stopping himself by grabbing the desk. "Well, um...one of my aunts is having another baby, and my dad's quitting his job to open a bakery. Otherwise, nothing new."

"Huh. Okay." On John's side of the line, he heard a baby crying in the background. "Well, uh," continued Dave, "Blake's actin' up again, so I have to go deal with that. Maybe I'll just ask Jade in a few years."

"Whatever you think is good." John sighed and got up out of the chair. "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Aight."

The brunet hung up the phone and took it with him into the kitchen to charge it. "Who was that?" Vriska asked as she scrubbed a plate in the sink.

"Dave," John told his wife as he plugged a charger into his iPhone. "He said he tried to propose to Jade last night, but she told him she wasn't ready."

"That blows." The cerulean-blood finished scrubbing down the plate and put it in the dishwasher, then turned the appliance on before washing her hands. "But...I still don't understand how she kept it a secret for so long. It just doesn't make sense! Why wouldn't she have wanted to tell him?"

John shrugged before opening the fridge. "She's so nice, she probably didn't want to inconvenience him or whatever. I don't know, he's fine with it now. In fact, they're trying to decide if they should move in together, but I'm not so sure how Dave's taking it now that they're not going to be married. Not to mention the 'who the heck is going to move, and where' thing."

"It will probably work out, though," Vriska commented. "Okay, I'm going to the grocery, do you need anything?"

* * *

**-Friday, January 19, 5:46 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/8 months old-**

The Vantases had a rather laid-back rest of the holiday break. Terezi had gone back to work the Wednesday after New Year's, and returned to school the following Monday. Karkat ended up having to go back to his job the day after the New Year, and was pretty unhappy about it. Katrina had continued to learn new words and had really taken a liking to being able to walk.

Tonight, they were preparing to have dinner with Cole and Vanessa, his wife. To be honest, they weren't so sure how to go about it. The first time Karkat and Terezi had met Vanessa was at her and Cole's wedding, and hadn't seen her since. But, of course, they were trying to be friendly. And they had Katrina to turn their attention towards if things got awkward.

"What did you make?" Terezi peeked her head into the kitchen to get a whiff of whatever her husband had just made for dinner. "I smell onions."

"I thought shish kabobs would be easy," Karkat replied, stabbing a chunk of marinated beef with a skewer. "They're probably not as good as they would have been if I did them outside, though."

"But they smell nice!" The teal-blood skipped over to the counter and popped a beef tip into her mouth. "These taste great, Karkles!"

Karkat rolled his eyes and continued placing meat and vegetables on the skewers. "It's almost six, and Cole and Vanessa still aren't here. Where's Katrina?"

"Da!" Katrina ran through the kitchen and straight into her father's legs. "Da? Mama? Food?"

"Not yet, Princess, but the food's almost ready." Karkat smiled and nodded at Terezi to take Katrina out of the kitchen. "We're waiting for people to get here, and then we can eat."

Right as soon as he said that, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Terezi grunted as she scooped Katrina up in her arms. "C'mon Katrina," she cooed to the young troll, "let's go see who it is!"

Terezi opened the front door and came face-to-face with Cole and Vanessa. "Hi!" she exclaimed, stepping out of the way to let the couple inside. "It's...warmer in here. Karkat's finishing up dinner, but it should be ready soon."

She led the other couple inside, listening to Vanessa's comments about the house. "How old is it?" the curly-haired brunette kept on asking Terezi as they walked through the first few rooms to the kitchen. "Is this original wood? Did you paint this? Did it look like this when you bought it—"

"Nessa, calm down." Cole nervously laughed and led his heavily pregnant wife into the Vantases' kitchen. "What's for dinner?"

Karkat grabbed the cookie sheet piled high with shish kabobs and set it down on the table. "Shish kabobs," he told his friends as he walked back to the counter to grab the side dishes he had made. "There's also pasta salad and regular salad. We like salad."

"Well, Nessa and I like salad too." Cole helped Vanessa sit down at the table before taking a seat himself.

"Especially pasta salad." Vanessa let out a laugh and rested her hands on her belly. "Italians love pasta."

Terezi began to put Katrina in her high chair. When Katrina got a glimpse of the food on the table, she immediately became fidgety and began crying "Food!"

"Just a second, baby, we're almost ready to eat." Terezi finally managed to get her daughter into the high chair and sat down at the table right next to it. "Karkat, c'mon, let's eat."

"I'm coming." The mutant-blood took off the protective apron and hung it on a hook on the wall, then went to sit down at the table with his family and friends.

* * *

**-6:23 pm-**

"So what exactly is a baby...like?" Vanessa nervously sipped her drink and tried to get comfortable. "I haven't even touched a baby in, like...years! And the closest I've ever gotten to taking care of a baby is dog sitting and watching Conner and Caroline a few times!"

Karkat playfully rolled his eyes. "I had never even held a baby until Katrina was born."

"But she's one baby, not two!"

Cole let out a lengthy sigh and put his hand on Vanessa's shoulder. "Calm down."

"It's fine," Terezi laughed. "I was freaking out, too." She turned back to Katrina and cut up a few pieces of chicken. "Freaking out and having mental breakdowns over the whole thing."

"That...doesn't sound like fun." Cole's wife set down her drink again.

Karkat shrugged. "I don't know much, but it sounds better than getting sick every day—"

" _Yes_!" Terezi and Vanessa answered in unison.

"Although I do miss eating a lot of Italian food," the teal-blood rambled. "Not like I can't stand Italian food now—no, I absolutely love it—but that's literally all I wanted to eat when I was 'pregnant' with Katrina."

"That's the exact opposite with me. I can't stand most Italian foods right now!" Vanessa laughed, but quickly realized her mistake when she looked at the pasta salad on the table. "The pasta salad's good, though. Maybe it's just an Italian thing to hate Italian food when you're pregnant or something, I don't know."

"Heh, I don't understand why," Terezi playfully remarked. "That's what we had at our wedding, that's all we ever make when people come over...that's zesty Italian dressing marinade, by the way."

Cole and Karkat scoffed, obviously amused by their wives' long conversation over something as simple as Italian food.

"Hey," Vanessa continued, "my grandparents own an Italian restaurant downtown, and I'm not even sure if they use zesty Italian on anything."

"Wait—" Karkat perked up. "—your... _grandparents_  own a restaurant?"

Vanessa smiled proudly. "Yep. DeLuccio's. My Nonna's maiden name. It's the best Italian food in Maple Valley, and anyone who says Olive Garden is better is full of crap."

"Nessa," Cole tittered, clearly amused but also embarrassed.

"DeLuccio's…?" Terezi laughed. "You've got to be kidding me. That's what we hired for catering when we got married!"

"Oh, yeah, Cole told me about it," Vanessa told the teal-blooded troll. "That's really funny, actually."

"It is." Karkat was clearly getting bored with the odd conversation topic, so he quickly changed the subject. "So, uh, Cole...what are you and Vanessa naming the babies?"

Cole smiled. "Well, the boy's going to be Zachary, and the girl's going to be either Brianna or Brielle, we can't decide. It's hard."

Terezi stood up to get a bored Katrina out of her high chair. "We came up with Katrina's name on the spot."

"I don't see how you did it." Cole laughed before standing up to clean off his dish. "We've had eight months to decide, and we still have one more."

"Oh, Vanessa." Terezi obviously liked her current role as hostess and decided to take advantage of the role as much as possible. "Do you want to go to the living room to sit down? I'm sure the chairs there are much more comfortable than in here."

* * *

Cole and Vanessa stayed for maybe another hour and a half before leaving. Karkat was actually surprised at how well Terezi and Vanessa got along, since Terezi hadn't really made an effort to be social since Katrina was born. Katrina got tired pretty quickly after dinner, but Terezi somehow managed to keep her asleep in her lap, at least until the Freemans had left.

They had actually enjoyed the visit, and were wondering when the next time the other family could come over would be. But Karkat and Terezi knew to just take things as they were and not stress about it until it was absolutely necessary.


	27. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the couples celebrate a certain holiday.

**-Wednesday, February 14, 5:28 pm / John's car / 9 months old-**

Not much had happened since Cole and Vanessa's visit. It was just the usual—Karkat went to work, then took care of Katrina while Terezi went to her classes and a couple of hours of work. However, towards the beginning of the month (February 3), Karkat got a text from Cole saying that Vanessa had had the babies, who were named Zachary and Brielle. As was expected, the Vantases congratulated the new parents, but for the most part just left them alone.

Valentine's Day was rapidly approaching, and everyone was preparing for that. Whether it be flowers, chocolate, a cake, or a simple outing, each couple was planning something.

John had decided to surprise Vriska with dinner and a movie. Currently, the two were in John's car, stopped at a red light just a few blocks from their destination.

"I'm so happy we  _finally_  get a night out," Vriska sighed to her husband. "I don't know, it just seems like ever since Casey came along, we haven't been able to do stuff together—just us."

John laughed. "I'm happy my grandparents got back from their two-year world tour so they can watch her now," he said.

"And just how rich are your grandparents?"

"I don't know," John shrugged, "but my grandma worked for the same business for fifty years, so I'm sure there were lots of promotions involved in that."

The light finally changed and John sped off until they reached the Red Lobster parking lot. "Well, here we are," John told his wife. "Red Lobster." Once he parked the car, though, he hesitated.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Vriska grabbed her purse and got out of the car. "C'mon, let's eat. I'm starving."

* * *

**-5:42 pm / Karkat & Terezi's house-**

Terezi nervously paced the house, walking all throughout the main level. Karkat, who was watching TV, finally noticed, and went to check out the problem.

"Terezi? Are you alright?" he asked, getting up from the couch. "What is it?"

"Just...I don't know." The teal-blood stopped pacing and turned around to face her husband. "I'm worried about Latula and Mituna. Was it  _really_  a good idea, asking them to watch her for even just a few hours?"

"It's not like we had any other options." Karkat sighed, then wrapped his arms around the female troll. "Babe, everything is going to be fine. Latula  _loves_  Katrina, and I'm sure she'll convince Mituna to do the same."

A knock was heard from the front door and the couple turned to face it. "I'll get it," Karkat told his wife, then pulled his arms away so he could answer the door.

"Where's Katrina?" Latula asked once Karkat had opened the door.

"Um…" Karkat glanced at Terezi. "Do  _you_  know where Katrina is…?"

"Oh!" Terezi laughed nervously. "I just put her down for a nap upstairs. She shouldn't bother you for a couple of hours or so."

The Vantases led Latula and Mituna into their house, and could tell Mituna was obviously uncomfortable. "'Tuna, you'll  _love_  Katrina," Latula smiled at her matesprit. "She's a rad lil' grub."

"Okay, so," Terezi said, stopping once they were all in the kitchen, "Katrina's upstairs. For dinner, she usually eats just cut up foods or Cheerios, and there's some leftovers in the fridge you can just cut up. I've taped both my cell phone number and Karkat's on the wall next to the phone, so you can just call one of us if you need anything, alright?" She grabbed her bag with her keys and wallet in it. "Okay. We'll see you guys in a couple of hours."

* * *

**-6:01 pm/Kanaya's car-**

"Rose…" Kanaya let out a lengthy sigh. "...does it feel like we haven't planned for our wedding enough? I feel, compared to Terezi's or Vriska's wedding, we haven't gotten nearly as much done as they have."

Rose turned to her fiancee and sighed. "Kanaya, we're not getting married until mid-July, everything is fine. Besides, aren't we going to look at decorations for the reception room tonight after dinner?"

"True, but…" The jade-blood sighed again. "...I don't know. I feel like we're missing something."

The blonde thought for a moment, but came up with nothing. "Casey and Katrina are going to be the flower girls; Jade and Dave's son is going to be the ringbearer whether or not he can walk by then; Vriska, Terezi, and Jade will be the bridesmaids; and John and Dave will be the...groomsmen even though there isn't a groom. What could we be missing?"

"The cake." Kanaya's eyes widened. "We haven't decided on the cake at all."

"Terezi told me she and Karkat didn't decide what flavor until almost a month before their wedding," replied Rose. "I'm sure the bakery wasn't impressed, but everything will be  _fine_ , Kanaya."

"I guess." Kanaya finally gave up on arguing and pulled her eyes back to the road. "I think I'm...also worried we won't be as happy as we are now when we're married as we think we'll be. I know I'm not Vriska, and I know you're not Vriska, but...I really don't think she and John have the ideal marriage."

"Kanaya, you're nothing like Vriska, and you know it," Rose reassured the troll. "Don't tell her I said this, but...John's too good for her."

"...Rose?"

"Sorry, sorry, I just meant...never mind." Rose blushed loudly, embarrassed at saying something she shouldn't have. "I feel like...compared to Vriska, John's very hard-working, you know? And Vriska just stays at home with Casey...does she ever leave the house?"

"Rarely. But remember, she lost her job," reminded Kanaya. "And she's trying to find something better than just waitressing at a restaurant. She's not lazy; she's just trying to think things over and set things straight before making a final decision."

"John just seems so stressed out."

"I assure you, it  _is not_  Vriska. Besides, we've already established that  _you_  are not her and  _I_ am not her."

"How about let's change the subject," Rose suggested.

Kanaya nodded her head in agreement. "That sounds like a very good idea."

* * *

**-6:32 pm/some restaurant-**

Mr. Egbert nervously tapped his foot, looking around the restaurant for any sign of his date. Although it was only two minutes past the agreed meeting time, he was still afraid of being stood up. Roxy wouldn't do that…would she?

"Sorry I'm late!" the blonde woman exclaimed, taking off her coat and sitting down across from her boyfriend. "Traffic was really bad coming this way…how are you?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks." Mr. Egbert took a sip of water and set the glass back down, thinking of a conversation topic. "So, um…how is…life?"

Roxy chuckled and smiled. "You haven't been on many formal dates before, have you?"

"No," John's dad quickly confessed. "I…haven't really dated anyone since…since Maggie died. I apologize if I'm ever awkward." He laughed in attempt to lighten the mood.

"Mm, I…I understand." The woman was about to say something else, but a waiter finally came up to the table to take drink orders. Once he had left, though, the two resumed conversation.

"Anyway," Roxy continued, "I haven't dated that much either, but I think my parents are to blame for making me feel like that, honestly."

Mr. Egbert cocked his head. "Why is that?" he asked.

Roxy looked down at the floor. "After I had Rose…it seemed like my parents wanted to take any opportunity they had to make me feel bad. Just telling me stuff like 'No one will want to date someone with a child,' 'You'll have to deal with this on your own'… It wasn't fun."

"That's awful."

"I mean...I know I was a stupid college student who made some mistakes, but...I still don't understand why they'd make me feel like that."

"Well, it looks like they were wrong." Mr. Egbert chuckled and gently placed his hand on top of Roxy's. "Roxy, I really like you. After Maggie died, I...wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to find love again, but...I think I have." He hesitated, but eventually leaned in for a kiss.

* * *

**-7:18 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

"We're back!" Karkat called, closing the door behind him and taking off his coat. Terezi set down her bag and took off her coat as well, waiting for a response, but there was none.

"Latula? Mituna?" she shouted, walking into the kitchen to see if they were in there. "Oh my god."

The other teal-blood laughed nervously. "Hi," she said with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about the, uh...mess."

"What?" Karkat came into the kitchen as well, but stopped. "Oh my god," he exclaimed, walking over to Katrina and lifting her out of a pile of spaghetti on the floor. "What happened?"

"Dinner, um, happened." Latula tried to laugh again. "You might want to buy some more food tomorrow."

"Ughhh." Terezi groaned before venturing deeper into the kitchen to inspect the damage. "Thanks for watching Katrina, but...we should really get all this cleaned up. We'll see you soon, okay?"


	28. Two Celebrations

**Tuesday, March 20, 7:28 am/John & Vriska's house/10 ½ months old-**

"Happy first day of spring!" John exclaimed, slingling his backpack over his shoulder and walking down the stairs.

"Why do you care?" Vriska responded from the kitchen. "You don't even get today off! Why is it happy?"

The brunet man dumped his backpack onto the kitchen floor and went to get breakfast from his wife. "I know, but it's an excuse to act happy this early in the morning."

Vriska handed him a bagel, about to say something, but flinched when a cry erupted from upstairs. "Great," she said, rolling her eyes, "you woke her up."

"How do you know it was me?"

"Hey, you were the one yelling!" The troll rolled her eyes again before trudging upstairs to calm down her daughter.

John sighed, hoping that the rest of the day would be better than the morning.

A minute or so later, John had finished his bagel and was pouring some creamer into his coffee when Vriska came downstairs with Casey. "Come on, Peanut," she cooed, "let's say goodbye to Daddy before he leaves!"

"Mm!" John quickly screwed the lid on his coffee tumbler before receiving his daughter from Vriska. "Bye, Casey," he said sweetly, "I'll see you this afternoon, okay?" He pecked the toddler on her cheek. "I love you."

"Bye!" Casey waved. "Bye Dada! Bye!"

Vriska laughed and took Casey back. "Bye," she told John, giving him a quick kiss on the lips, "I love you."

"Love you too!" He quickly grabbed his coffee and bag before rushing out the door to get another day of classes and work.

* * *

**-Sunday, April 1, 10:25 am/Karkat & Terezi's house/ 10 3/4 months old-**

"You look so pretty in your Easter dress!" Karkat exclaimed, fluffing out the pastel green skirt and tying the white sash. "Let's go show Mama; you'll be the prettiest girl at the egg hunt!"

The mutant-blooded troll carried the younger mutant-blood downstairs and took her into the kitchen, where Terezi was eating a quick snack before they left. "Hey," she told Karkat, "Vriska just texted me and said they're getting ready to leave, so we should probably leave soon if we don't want to keep them wait—Oh, baby! You look so pretty!"

Katrina laughed, obviously aware of and appreciating her mother's compliment.

"Well, if we need to go, then let's go." Karkat grabbed his car keys off the counter and tossed them in the air. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

* * *

**-10:42 am/Maple Valley Public Park-**

"I think we left too early," Vriska whispered to Terezi as they watched the girls play.

Terezi shrugged in response. "I don't think we're too bad," she told the cerulean-blood. "It's not too crowded, and besides, Katrina and Casey can play together for a little bit before it starts."

"Mm, I guess so." Vriska watched as Casey toddled over to Katrina and tried to give the other baby what looked like a caterpillar.

The teal-blood squatted down next to her daughter. "What is that?" she cooed to Katrina. "Did Casey give you a caterpillar? That was very nice of her, why don't you say—"

Squish! The next thing everyone knew, Katrina had taken a big, juicy bite out of the green caterpillar...and sadly, had swallowed it.

"Karkat," Terezi gulped, "she just ate a bug."

"What?" Karkat paused his conversation with John to bend down to his daughter. "Katrina," he sweetly said to her, "did you just eat what Casey gave you? You can't do that to everything, you know."

John laughed. "It's a good source of protein, at least. She probably doesn't even need any more meat today to get the daily recommended amount, if caterpillars have as much as they think I do."

Ten minutes later, the organizers of the event notified everyone they were starting soon. Karkat and John both handed a tiny basket to each of their respective daughters, and slowly guided them over to the appropriate area for their age range (which was two and under, by the way). Before the horn was sounded for the egg hunt to start, Karkat bent down to give his daughter a pep talk.

"Alright Katrina," he whispered to the baby troll in a serious tone, "when the horn goes off, you run. Just run and grab any egg you can find, make sure they don't fall out of your basket—"

"Karkat," Terezi whined, "she's not even a year old yet, she has no idea what you're telling her do or even why we're here! She just ate a fucking bug!"

"Oh, come on." The mutant-blood kissed the tiny troll's head before standing back up. "Go get 'em, Princess."

* * *

Although the 2 and under age group had had a pretty okay egg hunt, Karkat was appalled at what he saw in the other groups.

God, how could human children be so selfish and...barbaric, almost? Pushing and shoving each other, kicking and punching others just to get a tiny plastic egg filled with candy. One event organizer had to pause the hunt for one of the groups to break up a "fight" between three nine-year-olds. It wasn't pretty.

Katrina hadn't gotten as much as Karkat had hoped (the eggs always fell out of her basket when she ran everywhere, or fell out when she bent down to pick up an egg), but he was still proud of her. To make everything better, none of the other parents besides John and Vriska suspected a thing. It was, overall, a great egg hunt, and the Vantases agreed they'd do it the next year, so long as the Egberts would be there as well.

* * *

**-Friday, April 13, 7:18 am/John & Vriska's house/11 months old-**

"Happy birthday, John," Vriska tiredly whispered to her husband as she rolled over to face her in bed. "You're twenty-two years old today.

"Ngh...really? Wow, I...I can't believe that." The brunet yawned and struggled to get out of bed. "I graduate from college in...in a month. Wow."

Vriska softly laughed. "Not much longer until we can spend more time together."

Once John managed to get out of bed, it didn't take him long to get ready, and it wasn't long after that before he had to leave.

"What time are your grandparents supposed to call?" his wife asked him before he left for one of his last few weeks at college.

"Mm...they said they'd call when they're about twenty minutes from here. We're all going to meet at our house, then go to the restaurant from here."

"Alrighty." Vriska gave her husband a kiss. "Have a great day. Love you."

"Love you too." John grabbed his backpack and coffee cup. "Can't wait for tonight."

* * *

**-4:49 pm-**

"Vris, do you have all of Casey's things together?" John called from their bedroom. "My grandparents and dad should be getting here at five! You need to drop Casey at Karkat and Terezi's!"

"I've got it, I've got it!" Vriska threw a few of Casey's favorite toys into the diaper bag and zipped it up. "I'm going to put a few snacks in here for her as well!"

"Go ahead!"

The troll picked up Casey with one arm and the diaper bag with the other and took them both downstairs. "You're going to get to play with your cousin Katrina and your Uncle Karkat and Aunt Terezi for a few hours while Mommy and Daddy are away, okay?"

"Mm!" Casey exclaimed, which was close enough to an answer.

Vriska set the toddler on the floor for a few moments while she grabbed some of Casey's favorite foods and put them in the diaper bag with everyone else. "Alright, Peanut," she said, "let's go!"

The two went across the street to the Vantases' and Vriska knocked on the door. "Come on in," Terezi said when she opened the door. "Karkat's in the living room playing with Katrina, so Casey can join in on that."

"That's great." Vriska came inside with her daughter and put her down on the floor. "Ooh, it smells good; what is that?"

"Karkat made meatloaf that's in the oven; is it alright if Casey has some?" Terezi asked as she led the two Egberts into the living room.

Vriska shrugged. "I'm not sure if she'll like it, but it's worth a try. I packed some snacks in her diaper bag, so if she won't eat, just give her some of those. She's pretty easy when it comes to food, though, so hopefully she'll eat it."

Terezi nodded and corralled her friend's daughter into the living room. "We'll see you later, okay?"

"Alright. Thanks so much for watching her."

"No problem. Have fun."

* * *

When Vriska left the Vantases', she noticed John's grandparents' car in their driveway. And of course, they were waiting in the kitchen when she walked in the house.

"Hi!" John's grandfather exclaimed in his usual enthusiastic tone. "John told me you went to drop off Casey at a friend's house. Why isn't she coming with us?"

"Grandpa, I already told you—she'd be a hassle if we brought her with us." John rolled his eyes before motioning for Vriska to sit down at the table with them. "My dad called and said he ran into work traffic," he told her. "He should be here within ten minutes."

Well, John was right. Five minutes later, Mr. Egbert's black BMW pulled into the driveway. John was happy his dad was finally there so they could eat...but his face fell when Ms. Lalonde got out of the car as well.

"Oh, it looks like Joseph brought Roxy along," Peggy whispered to her husband.

Mr. Egbert had already gotten word from John it was okay to just come on in, he opened the door and walked in without knocking or anything. "Happy birthday, John!" he called as he and Roxy came into the kitchen to join the others.

Rose's mom smiled and continued to stand close to her boyfriend. "Happy birthday," she told John with a small smile on her face.

"Thank...you." John was disappointed his father hadn't told him he was bringing someone. It wasn't like he didn't like Ms. Lalonde, he just was looking forward to his birthday dinner being just family.

He stood up and pushed in the kitchen chair before grabbing his phone and wallet. "Well, since everyone's here...I'm starving. Let's go."

* * *

**-5:58 pm/The Cheesecake Factory-**

John hated to admit it, but this had been a pretty shitty birthday so far.

His three classes and three hours of work afterwards had gone okay, and everything didn't start to go downhill until after he came home. First was his dad bringing Roxy along without asking or mentioning it beforehand—that had probably upset him the most of anything. There was really bad traffic on the way to the restaurant as well; what should have taken them twenty minutes to drive to had actually taken forty. Currently, the Egberts, Evanses, and Lalonde were in the very crowded Cheesecake Factory Lobby, waiting for a table to be ready.

Finally a waiter called the table name and the six stood up, ready to be led to their table. Everyone weaved in and out of the crowded restaurant before finally coming upon an empty place in a very back corner.

Once the waiter had taken everyone's drink orders, they all decided to move onto conversation. "So John," Bob asked his grandson, "what are your plans after college?"

"I'll be working at the exact same place, just getting paid more," the now-twenty-two-year-old unenthusiastically replied. "I might go back and get my master's later, but right now I want to take a break."

"That's reasonable."

"What are you majoring in?" asked Roxy, much to John's dismay. "Your father told me, but I can't remember what it is."

"Biochemistry." John tried his best to not sound like he hated the woman, but he couldn't tell if it had actually worked or not. "I work at a lab after school filing papers and inputting data into the computer, but my boss promised me that once I graduate I can actually handle specimen and analyze the data instead of just staring at it."

Ms. Lalonde smiled. "You'll be very happy you chose a career in science," she told her boyfriend's son. "If you're able to secure a good job, you won't have to worry as much about money, depending on what the job is. I was honestly surprised being an astronomer paid as much as it did, but it's something I enjoy, and it's best to do something you enjoy if the salary pays well enough."

John just kind of nodded, not really wanting to respond.

"You know, I'm awfully thankful Rose convinced me to move here with her," she continued. "I would have never met your dad, and I'd be a long way away from Rose. I do miss our old house though."

"I'd love to see pictures sometime," Mr. Egbert told her.

John rolled his eyes before glancing at Vriska, who gave him an apologetic look.

The waiter came back with everyone's drinks, then took their orders, which John was pretty happy about. He was tired and really didn't feel like talking to anyone, even though it was his birthday.

* * *

**-6:14 pm/John & Vriska's house-**

"John, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mr. Egbert motioned for his son to follow him into the study.

"Dad?"

"John, I could tell something was wrong tonight," his dad told him. "You just seemed so depressed and tired; is something going on?"

The younger Egbert sighed. "Dad...it's Rose's mom," he confessed. "It's not that I don't like her—I think she's a very nice lady—but...you never told me she was coming. I was looking forward to it being just us, Grandma and Grandpa, and Vriska."

Mr. Egbert sighed as well. "You're right, John. I should have asked before bringing her with me. Did that ruin your day?"

"Well...sort of." John hated to admit it, but it did. "I was more disappointed."

"Let me make it up to you, then." The older man put his hands on John's shoulders. "Next Friday or Saturday, I'll help you with painting the master bedroom, alright?"

John smiled. "Thanks, I guess."

* * *

 


	29. Happy Birthday

**-Saturday, May 5, 11:42 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house/11 ¾ months old-**

"Karkat!" Terezi called as she walked into the kitchen carrying her daughter. "Have you started setting out the food? People are going to start getting here soon!"

The other adult troll sighed, getting a jug of lemonade out and setting it on the counter. "The hot dogs are on the grill outside. I should probably go check on them."

Terezi followed her husband onto the back patio, where a cheap, George Foreman-style grill sat. "I hate Katrina's actual birthday falls on a Wednesday this year," she sighed as she put the soon-to-be-one-year-old on the ground to play for a bit. "I like celebrating on the actual day rather than before or after it."

"I know, but at least we could have everyone over today since it's a Saturday." Karkat turned a few of the hot dogs over before closing the grill again. "They're almost done. Why don't you go inside and set the table up and put the food out in case anyone comes. I'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble out here."

The teal-blood went back inside the house to set up the food. She grabbed a jug of lemonade from the fridge and put it on the island along with a two-liter Coke and Sprite. The cakes, which Mr. Egbert had gladly made for them, were sitting on the counter by the fridge. The main one for the adults was a standard vanilla, with red and white icing on the top. Katrina's personal cake was also vanilla, but had red, pink, and green icing on it. Both looked delicious and she couldn't wait to eat.

A knock on the door paused her party set-up, so she put down what she was doing and went to go answer it. "Hey," she said to John, Vriska, and Casey, "I'm still setting up, but you guys can come inside."

The Egberts entered the house and Vriska put Casey on the floor. "Where's Karkat?" the older asked. "And where's Katrina?"

"They're outside," Terezi told her, leading the three outside to the porch. "See?"

Karkat looked up from the grill and gave them a small wave.

"I guess I'll leave John and Casey out here, then." The cerulean-blood followed her friend back inside. "What can I help you with?"

"Hmm…" Terezi walked over to a cabinet to get a large bowl out of it. "...not much, really. I'm just setting out some chips right now and Karkat's getting the hot dogs ready, but you can get the veggie tray out of the fridge and put it on the island."

While Terezi and Vriska were doing that, Karkat and John were having a chat outside while Katrina and Casey played together. "Who else did you invite?" John asked the older troll as he sat down on the porch steps.

"Let's see...Rose and Kanaya are coming, Cole and Vanessa...oh! They're bringing the babies, too, so I don't think they'll stay very long. And, uh...I invited a few of our troll friends too. This will be really awkward."

"Tell me about it," groaned John. "Trolls aren't very friendly, I can tell."

"No, we're not. Sometimes it's painful."

"Also, um...how did everyone react to you guys having Katrina? Isn't it taboo or something?"

Karkat shrugged. "A few of them were grossed out; others didn't care. I'm surprised we'd never heard it was possible back home. You'd think natural instincts would take over and things would happen...shit, Katrina!"

The mutant-blood set the tongs down and went to get his daughter, who had just knocked a tomato plant over and spilled the dirt on herself. "We need to get you cleaned up, Princess. John, can you watch the hot dogs while I get her changed?"

"Sure thing."

As soon as Karkat took Katrina upstairs to change her clothes, the doorbell rang. This time, it was Nepeta and Feferi. "Terezi!" Nepeta called, deciding to open the door for herself. "Me and Fef- _furry_  are here!"

"We're in the kitchen!" The two trolls in the kitchen began to set up the table just as Nepeta and Feferi came in.

"What are we eating?" Nepeta curiously asked. "It smells good!"

Terezi ripped open a pack of paper plates and began to set them out on the counter. "Karkat's making hot dogs, and we have potato chips and vegetables to go along with that. Then there's cake for dessert."

"Cake? I love cake!"

Karkat came downstairs with Katrina, who was in fresh, clean clothes now. "Has anyone else gotten here?" he asked Terezi before coming into the kitchen and noticing Nepeta and Feferi. "Oh, hi."

"She's so glubbin' cute!" exclaimed Feferi. "Today's her wriggling day, isn't it?"

Karkat shook his head and put Katrina down. "It's actually not for a couple more weeks," he told the heiress. "Humans are weird and counted the day she actually...came out as her wriggling day, not the day she hatched."

"...I didn't understand a lot of that but okay!" Feferi nervously laughed before deciding to get something to drink.

The doorbell rang again, and this time it was Karkat who decided to answer it. He opened the front door and there stood a very exhausted Cole and Vanessa, each carrying a car seat.

"Are we late?" Vanessa asked in an exasperated tone that honestly scared Karkat a little (something that rarely happened). She and her husband stepped inside with the babies.

"...Actually, no," the troll told them. "But I have to warn you, we invited some of our, um...friends, and...they can get a little interesting. Hopefully they won't be too weird, though."

Cole made eye contact with Vanessa, who seemed to understand what he had told her earlier about trolls and things.

"One thing though," Vanessa sighed, "I am so,  _so_  sorry in advance if the babies act up. They rarely sleep, and when they do, it's really easy to wake them up."

"...We'll try to be quiet then."

The three (five, technically) continued into the living room, where Cole and Vanessa set the babies down before plopping down onto the Vantases' couch. "I never want to have another baby again," Vanessa commented to her husband, an exhausted look in her eyes.

"Okay!" Karkat was becoming uncomfortable and decided to go back outside to check on John, Casey, and the hot dogs. "More people are here," he told the humans before checking the sausages on the grill. "I think they're done. You two can go inside; I'll take care of this."

John shrugged and took his daughter back inside with him while Karkat took all the hot dogs off the grill. "Oh, wow," the brunet said when he noticed all the guests who had gotten there while he was outside.

"Vriska, this is your matesprit, right?" questioned Feferi, who made her way over to the human.

"You've met him before, Feferi," reminded the cerulean-blood before scooping her daughter into her arms. "Hey, Peanut, do you remember Miss Feferi? It's been a few months…"

Casey looked up at the other troll before furrowing her brow. "Mm!" she whined, burying her face in her mother's shoulder.

"I think she's going through a phase."

Nepeta looked at the hybrid toddler with distaste. "She's not very  _purr_ -etty."

Vriska simply just turned up her nose and walked away.

Karkat came back inside with the plate of hot dogs. "Okay, these are ready," he told everyone. "We still have three more people coming, so I don't want to eat until they get here."

"Who else is coming?" Nepeta asked.

"Rose and Kanaya, and...a friend of ours you've never met."

Right then, a loud knock on the front door was heard. Karkat stopped what he was doing g and made eye contact with his wife before going to answer the door.

"Is—is this…the right place?" A familiar yellow-blooded troll looked up at the mutant-blood before sighing with relief. "Oh, thank Gog, it is! I was worried I'd accidentally go to the wrong hive and scare some humans, or—"

"You can come inside, you know." Karkat stepped aside to let Augeth into the house. "Let me warn you, though, we have some of ou human friends here, and they have…grubs…so…"

"I don't see why that matters, but okay!" Augeth followed Karkat further into the house until they finally reached the kitchen.

Literally everyone except for Terezi and Katrina stopped. "...Karkat?" Vriska asked. "Who's this?"

"Oh, um…" Karkat stepped to the side to introduce the "unknown" troll. "...this is Augeth. She helped Katrina when she was sick."

The yellow-blooded troll nervously waved. "...Hi."

Vriska, Nepeta, and Feferi uncomfortably waved back.

"So, um...I'll just leave you all here to get to know each other." Karkat awkwardly left the kitchen to warn Cole and Vanessa of possible mishaps.

Back in the kitchen, Augeth stared at the other trolls (except for Terezi) with a mixture of interest and discomfort. "So, um…" she uncomfortably began, "...do all of you live here?"

Feferi shook her head. "No. Nepeta and I still live on Alternia."

"So that's Nepeta…" Augeth pointed to the olive-blood. "...and you are…?"

"I'm Feferi." The Alternian heiress introduced herself to the unfamiliar troll. "...Are you the one who's friends with Sollux?"

Augeth nodded. "Yes, he lives not too far away from me, actually! Is he coming?"

Feferi turned to Terezi. "Terezi, is Sollux coming?"

The teal-blood shook her head. "I don't think he likes Katrina very much for some reason."

Karkat re-entered the kitchen and scooped his daughter into his arms. "Rose and Kanaya  _still_  aren't here yet."

"It's only 12:08. They're not too bad."

* * *

Finally, after five more minutes of waiting, Rose and Kanaya arrived. By then, everyone was starving, so almost immediately after they got there everyone ate. Rose and Kanaya introduced themselves to Augeth, which thankfully went better than it did with everyone else.

Once everyone started to eat, the conversation began. "She's a year old now, huh?" Cole nervously commented as he picked up one of the twins, a bit scared by all the trolls in one place. "Wasn't I one of the first people you told?"

Terezi nodded. "Yeah. We were going to wait a bit, to see if anything would happen, but it was just convenient to tell you guys then."

"So how did you find out…?" Augeth seemed very eager to take mental notes on all of this; it was just so interesting!

"Same way I did," Vriska snobbishly replied. "Suspect it, buy a test, and wait."

"Vriska…" Terezi sighed. "...Yeah."

"Wait, wait…where's yours?" Augeth asked the cerulean-blood as she looked around the room. "Katrina's the only young troll I see here."

Vriska laughed. "My matesprit's a human, so our kid looks like a human." She gladly took Casey from John. "Here she is."

"That's...that's weird, but okay." Augeth resumed eating some chips.

"Who's ready for some cake?!" Terezi got up from the chair she was sitting in and walked over to the counter to get the cakes. "Katrina's going to get hers first, of course."

"What flavor is it, Terezi?" asked Rose.

Terezi brought the two cakes over to the table. "They're both just vanilla; I thought that would be easiest." After running to get some knives to cut the cake, she placed the cake for Katrina on her high chair tray. "Okay, here we go…"

* * *

After an awkward chorus of "happy birthday", both grown Vantases whipped out their cell phones to snap a few pictures of Katrina before she dug into the cake. It didn't take long for the toddler to realize that cake tasted good—soon, she was covered in icing as she slowly munched on handfuls of cake. Icing was all in the youngest Vantas' hair, all over her face, and smeared on her clothes. Everyone except for John enjoyed the cake. Rose and Kanaya complimented Mr. Egbert's cooking as usual, and John promised to relay the message to him.

"Someone needs a bath," Karkat cooed to his daughter as he picked her up. Icing dripped from Katrina's clothes as he carried her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the bathroom.

"Well, thanks for coming," Terezi told everyone as they began to gather their things to leave. "We had a lot of fun."

"I can't believe she's already a year old." Kanaya patted the wet head of Katrina, who became uncomfortable and shyed away. "I remember when you and Karkat were still complaining about not having a child."

"I'm happy we got our wish quickly." The teal-blood kissed her daughter on the head. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for inviting Rose and I. We had fun." Kanaya reached for the hand of her girlfriend, who gladly took it.

"Oh, of course. Thanks for coming."

Terezi and Katrina said their goodbyes to Rose and Kanaya before the couple left.

* * *

**-9:21 pm-**

"I'm  _so_  happy we finally got this over with," Karkat sighed to Terezi as the two laid in bed for the night. "Not that I don't like everyone, it's just...the stress of having to clean and get ready and being forced to talk to people for two hours."

"I understand." Terezi turned a page of the book she was reading. "I'm just happy that we'll be able to spend her actual birthday with it being just the three of us."

"You know…" The mutant-blood played with his matesprit's hair. "...you look really beautiful today."

"Thanks," Terezi responded, obviously not getting the memo.

Karkat scoffed. "Have you noticed how difficult it's been lately trying to find someone to take care of Katrina while we're gone?"

"When are we ever gone?" Terezi asked. "But I guess, yeah. When we do leave, it  _is_  difficult. Why do you ask?"

By now, Karkat was slightly irritated she still hadn't gotten the hint. "Terezi, we haven't had sex in like...a month."

"Well, why didn't you just say that, dummy!" Terezi lightly whacked Karkat's arm with her book before setting it on the night table next to the bed. "I'm ready whenever you are."


	30. Graduation

**-Saturday, May 26, 7:00 am/John & Vriska's house/1 year & 2 weeks old-**

The alarm blared. 7:00 am. John sleepily opened his eyes and rolled over to turn off the clock when suddenly…

"Surprise, John!"

"Vrisk— _aaah_!"

The married couple fell from the side of the bed in a tangled heap, the sheets and blankets landing on top of them. "Vris," John groaned, "what were you trying to do?"

Vriska whipped out a can of blue silly string and began to spray it at her husband with an enthusiastic smile. "Congratulations."

"Vriska...now I  _have_  to take a shower." John slowly got up from the pile and stretched. "Why'd you do that?"

"John, you're graduating from college today!" The troll stood up and stuck out her bottom lip. "You told me there's still stuff to be excited about, even if you have to do things you don't want to do."

"Oh yeah." John yawned before walking into the bathroom. "Can you make my coffee, please? I have three hours before the ceremony actually starts, and I can't sleep through any of it."

"Sure thing," Vriska happily replied, beginning to go downstairs into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later, John came down the stairs all dressed up, cap and gown on a hanger and ready to be put on when he got to the auditorium. "You look  _very_  handsome," Vriska told him with a slightly seductive smile on her face.

"Thanks." The brunet took his coffee off the counter and took a sip before grabbing a plate of pancakes Vriska had made for him. "Thanks for the pancakes, too, by the way."

"You are  _very_  welcome." Vriska grabbed a couple for herself and doused them in syrup. "What time do we need to leave?"

"Um...a lot of people will be getting there at the same time, so I'd say be there by at least 9:30. If my dad or grandparents, or Karkat and Terezi are already there just sit with them, otherwise just find a seat and wait for them to get there."

"Alright," the cerulean-blood replied. "I can do that."

* * *

**-9:26 am/University of Washington, Seattle Campus Stadium-**

"Okay, Casey," Vriska said to her daughter, almost talking to herself as well. "Let's see if we can find Grandpa, or Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa, or Aunt Terezi and Uncle Karkat…"

Finally she spotted a familiar set of nubby horns and led Casey over to where he was standing. "Ugh, I'm so happy I finally found someone!"

Karkat turned around to face the blue-blood. "Oh, hey. I'm waiting for Terezi to get out of the bathroom, then we were going to find a seat."

"Would it be okay if we all sat with John's dad and grandparents?" asked Vriska. "He was wanting us all to sit together so he could find us easier."

Karkat shrugged. "That's fine with me."

After waiting around for a few minutes, Terezi had come out of the bathroom and Mr. Egbert had met up with the group. "I talked to Bob and Peggy," he said to Vriska, "and they said they're trying to find a parking space. They should be here soon."

"Well, should we go ahead and find a place to sit, and save them a seat?"

"That sounds like a good idea."

The group relocated to some seats towards the middle of the stadium and continued to wait for John's grandparents. Finally, after sitting and waiting for about five minutes, the older couple appeared.

"Sorry we're late," Peggy apologized. "You wouldn't  _believe_  how many people were trying to pull into the parking lot at the same time! It was awful!"

"I bet so," Mr. Egbert laughed. He flipped through the graduation program, waiting for the ceremony to actually start.

The graduation ceremony finally began shortly after ten. Several hundred students orderly filed into the field and took their place in front of chairs set up in neat rows. Vriska tried to look for John, but everyone looked the same with the black caps and gowns on.

After all the soon-to-be graduates were in their places, the important-looking people made their way in. Some of them were in standard formal attire, others in special robes. Vriska had no idea who they were, but they looked like important people, so she didn't say anything to anyone.

A man walked up to the podium and began to speak. He welcomed the guests to the ceremony, and then handed the mic over to a woman who said a few words on the importance of college education and a few other things that went straight over Vriska's head. After a couple more people talked, they finally got onto presenting the diplomas.

The first few diplomas were presented with no problem. It went in order of degree—first bachelor's, then master's, then doctorate. Each degree was put in alphabetical order, so John would be somewhere towards the beginning of the bachelor's degree. Once the C names were called, though, Terezi began to feel something wrong.

A gross, acidic taste began burning the back of her throat and she knew what was coming. "Karkat," she quickly whispered to her husband, "let me out."

"What?" Karkat was about to ask questions, but realized his wife was serious and quickly stood up with Katrina to let the other troll out. She darted up the stairs to the restrooms and flung open a stall door before projectile vomiting into the toilet.

"Oh my god…" She was about to wipe her mouth and wash her hands, but felt another wave coming.

After deciding she was finished, Terezi flushed the toilet and went to go wash off her hands. Cupping her hands and filling them with water to get a drink, she quietly laughed to herself. "That's funny," she said, "I haven't gotten this sick since...Katrina…"

Then it dawned on her.

She couldn't be.

Could she…?

The teal-blood decided to shake the thought off and returned to her seat. Maybe she hadn't missed John's diploma presentation.

It seemed to take forever for everyone who had stayed, but finally John's name was called. Vriska and Mr. Egbert each whipped out their cell phones and snapped a picture as he walked across the stage to receive his diploma. After walking across the stage, John stopped before going down the stairs to smile at his family and friends.

Mr. Egbert began to cry, which caused Vriska to laugh. "Are you  _crying_?!" the troll quietly exclaimed as she smiled in disbelief.

The grown man quickly nodded and sniffed. "You'll understand some day," he told his daughter-in-law.

The rest of the ceremony seemed to drag on, since the group had seen what they had come there for.  **(5415)**  Eventually, though, the amount of graduates waiting to receive their diplomas shrunk smaller and smaller, and finally, the final person had received theirs.

One of the important-looking people got up to make some closing remarks and everyone could feel the anticipation and excitement fill up the space. "I wish the best to all of you on your future endeavors, and that you may have great success in the future," the man said in a loud voice, though directing it towards the now-graduates. "As my final words, I would like to say congratulations to the University of Washington's graduating class of two-thousand and—"

No one could even hear the end of his sentence as the graduates all threw their graduation caps into the air simultaneously. "Is that even allowed anymore?" whispered Bob to Mr. Egbert, who shrugged. Nevertheless, a celebration was definitely going on down on the field. It was now time for the graduates to be dismissed, and finally, the guests.

The Egberts, Evanses, and Vantases made their way to the outside of the stadium to wait for John to exit. They made small talk for a bit before the graduates began to come outside.

Something randomly hit Vriska and she gave Casey to Mr. Egbert before frantically running through the crowd. "John?" she called as she search for her husband. "John? John!"

The blue-blood jumped into the arms of her husband, who picked her up and swung her around. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed before giving him a kiss.

"Thank you, Vris." John returned the kiss with an even longer, more passionate one.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you! This is great!"

Before John could say anything, he saw a familiar face amongst the crowd.

"Hey Egderp!"

_Oh God,_  John thought, bracing himself for whatever was to come. He shot Vriska a nervous glance, who took it as something being wrong. The two quickly took is as their chance to go back to their family and friends.

John's dad and grandparents were waiting with smiles on their faces. "Oh, I can't believe my oldest grandbaby is graduated from college," Peggy sobbed in a stereotypical grandmotherly way, pulling John in for a hug which he found awkward. "It seems like just yesterday you were born…"

"Grandma, you can let go now!" John grunted and wiggled his way out of the hug, only to find himself in another one from his dad.

"Son, I'm so proud of you." The older man embraced his son in a very long hug that made him very uncomfortable. "I knew you could do it."

"Stop being so cheesy, dad!" John exclaimed, extremely embarrassed to be babied in front of his friends, family, and people he didn't know. "I'm twenty-two!"

"I know, son, it's just…" Mr. Egbert sniffed, trying not to cry and embarrass John even more. "...you've grown up too fast."

The Vantases and Vriska exchanged awkward glances, not sure of what to say.

Eventually the congratulations moved on to Karkat and Terezi, and even Katrina said some version of "congratulations". Karkat offered to take some pictures of John with his grandparents, with his dad, and with Vriska and Casey.

After taking lots of pictures, the friends and family decided to chat with each other. John re-explained his "life plan" to his grandparents, who seemed to have forgotten what he had told them since his birthday. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of talking, they had to leave (to buy John a graduation gift, perhaps), so John, Vriska, and Mr. Egbert said their goodbyes.

"Hey Egderp…!"

John turned around to find Dylan calling his awful nickname in a weird, sing-songy voice. "Egderp, congrats!"

"Dylan, what are you doing here?" John sighed. "I thought you were graduating a year behind me."

The blond rolled his eyes and gestured to his clothes. "Do you  _see_  any robes on me? Nah, my sister graduated this year."

"Oh, so  _you're_  Dylan?" Vriska had an obviously sarcastic tone when she said this. "John has told me  _so much_  about you—oh, and Terezi too! I can see you're pretty popular!"

Dylan raised an eyebrow and looked back to John. "Egderp, who's this?"

"You should probably stop calling my husband that," Vriska warned as she flashed Dylan a fangy grin that made him jump back a bit. "I'm not sure if he's talked about me much, but it won't be good if you mess with him."

Casey decided to let go of her mother's leg and instead walked over to her father. "Dada!" she squealed, jumping up and down for John to pick her up.

Dylan looked down at the dark-haired toddler with confusion. "Is that...yours?" he asked with a puzzled tone.

John proudly nodded. "Casey will be two in September."

"So wait…" Dylan looked back up to John and Vriska and looked back and forth at the two. "... _you_  got laid, and  _you_  wanted to fuck him?!"

John and Vriska nodded simultaneously.

"Someone sounds sexually frustrated," Vriska sang with a smirk on her face.

"Um, can we  _please_  not talk about this right now?" Karkat whispered in the cerulean-blood's ear. "It's making me extremely uncomfortable."

" _Fine_." Vriska rolled her eyes before looking back at Dylan and crossing her arms. "You'd better not be messing with my husband, got it?"

* * *

**-1:14 pm/Mr. Egbert's house-**

After the awkwardness that was the conversation between John, Vriska, and Dylan, everyone left the campus to go to Mr. Egbert's house for John's graduation "party". Since it wasn't as big as his high school graduation, John had opted for just a small get-together with finger foods and his dad's famous cake. Casey and Katrina would get the chance to play together (or nap) while the adults could have a nice conversation and eat lunch.

John quickly ditched his formal attire and changed into a t-shirt and some shorts almost as soon as he arrived at his dad's house. However, once he came back downstairs after changing, he was met with someone he kind of didn't want to see at the moment.

"Congratulations, John!" exclaimed Ms. Lalonde, reaching out to hug her boyfriend's son. "Oh, I'm so sorry we couldn't make it to the ceremony! Wedding planning is so stressful! But at least we could make it to the party, right?"

"Yeah…" John nervously laughed. "At least you could make it to the party…"

From behind her mom, Rose gave John an apologetic look.

Ms. Lalonde finally let go of the awkward hug and looked at her boyfriend. "Well, anything else before we eat?"

"We're waiting for John's grandparents to get here," he said in response, "and then we can eat. Why don't we go out to the backyard and eat there?"

"That sounds like a good idea." John quickly hurried out the back door, clearly uncomfortable with the situation and just wanting some time to relax.

Once everyone was in the backyard, Mr. Egbert decided it would be a good time to grill the hamburgers he had made earlier that morning. Although everyone was there for John's graduation, Rose and Kanaya's upcoming marriage seemed to be the main topic of discussion.

"Rose went to try on her wedding dress last week," Roxy proudly told everyone. "It looks gorgeous."

"I can't wait to see it," Vriska said before taking a sip of her Coke. "That's probably one of the best parts of the wedding is the dress, other than the food and reception."

"My dress was really itchy." Although Terezi was trying to sound perfectly fine and interested in the conversation, she was still worried about what had happened earlier that morning. Surely there had to be a reason as to why she had gotten sick—after having such a hard time conceiving Katrina, it shouldn't have been that easy to do it again!

But, she and Karkat  _did_  have sex a few weeks earlier… It could have been possible…

Oh well, they were there for John, not to be stressing over something that might not have even happened.

Roxy got up out of the chair she was sitting in and went to go talk to Mr. Egbert, which left everyone else free to talk about whatever they wanted to. "I wish my grandparents would get here soon," mumbled John as he slumped down in his seat.

"I'm sure they will," Kanaya reassured. "They're so nice, by the way. It's very interesting that one's parents' parents often stay around as well."

"Well, if they live long enough to, might as well."

John was about to add something else, but his dad perked up as soon as a car was heard pulling into the driveway. "I guess that's your grandparents," Mr. Egbert told his son. "Why don't you tell them to come on out here?"

The younger brunet shrugged and opened the gate to walk around the house rather than go through it. "Grandma, Grandpa," he called, "it might just be easier to go straight to the backyard—"

"Surprise!"

"What—what the—!"

"Happy graduation, John!" his maternal grandfather exclaimed as John stopped in surprise.

John had no idea what to say, to be honest. He had nothing to do except for stare at his brand-new sedan in awe.

"We know how old the car you normally drive is," Bob continued, "so as a graduation gift we decided to get a new one!"

"You didn't have to do that!" John exclaimed, more out of habit than out of seriousness (of course he wanted the new car!). "Wow, oh my god, just...wow."

"What is it?" Vriska walked through the gate and out to the driveway. "Oh my god!" she laughed. "Is this…?"

"Yeah." John nodded. "It's mine."

After thanking Bob and Peggy a million times for the new car, John rejoined his family and friends in the backyard and on the patio. They all ate burgers and chips and talked, and, when everyone had finished with the main course, moved on to the cake (which Mr. Egbert had obviously made). Casey and Katrina played together, as usual, while the adults talked.

Ms. Lalonde got up to talk to Mr. Egbert, which made both John and Rose roll their eyes. This was  _John's graduation party,_ not  _flirty get-together party._  Could either of their respective parents just...keep it to themselves for just a few hours?

John and Rose exchanged annoyed glances as Mr. Egbert and Ms. Lalonde went inside to do who-knows-what. Bob and Peggy smiled at each other and chuckled. "They really seem to like each other," Peggy commented as she stood up. "I'm just going to get a drink; I'll be right back."

Katrina decided to stop playing with Casey and instead got up from the grass to join her parents on the patio. "Mama! Da!" she squealed, toddling through the grass to reach her destination.

"Oh, Katrina, baby, be careful, there's a...ledge."

Terezi cringed the second her daughter tripped over the edge of the patio and landed face-first on the concrete. The baby troll burst into tears and began screaming bloody murder, which didn't help at all.

"Princess…" Karkat got up from the chair he was sitting in to go calm down his daughter while everyone watched. He picked up Katrina and brushed her clothes off before noticing a bleeding scrape on her chin.

The mutant-blood continued to calm down Katrina as he walked up onto the back porch. "Where are the band-aids?" he irritatedly asked John.

"In the cabinet over the washing machine."

"Thanks." Karkat carried still-crying Katrina back into Mr. Egbert's house and nearly ran into Peggy.

"Oh, goodness." John's grandma nodded sympathetically before sitting back down in the chair she had been sitting in earlier. "I do  _not_  miss those days."

Vriska nodded in agreement. "I love Casey, but she can be a handful."

"Katrina gets into everything," Terezi agreed with a sigh. "The other day I had to stop her from electrocuting herself...again."

Vriska scoffed. "Bad parenting, much?"

" _You_  shut up. You're not any better of a mom than I am."

"Jegus, Terezi, I was being sarcastic." Vriska rolled her eyes before standing up to prevent Casey from doing what Katrina had done. "C'mere, Peanut. Let's go somewhere safer."

John sighed and grabbed Vriska's arm. "Vris, can we go inside to talk? Grandma and Grandpa and Terezi can watch her."

"I...guess."

Vriska followed her husband into his dad's house. John led her into the study and closed the door behind him. "So...what were you wanting to talk to me about?" she asked.

"I just need to vent, okay." The human let out a lengthy, irritated sigh. "It's my dad, okay."

"What about your dad?"

"I don't know, I just...hate how much time he's spending with Rose's mom."

Vriska smiled. " _Someone's_  jealous," she teased.

"No, I'm not! Okay, maybe  _just_  a little…"

"John, I'm sure this is normal," Vriska reassured. "If it's just been you and your dad most of your life, I think him finally having someone else in his life other than you would be upsetting."

"I guess you're right," John confessed, "but...I wish he would just let me  _talk_  to him about it. I feel like he just brushes everything aside and won't even listen to me when I tell him I feel like I'm being ignored. All he does is make shitty promises and bake cakes that I won't even eat!"

Vriska pulled John into a hug before pecking his cheek with a kiss. "I know you're feeling bad, so how about a little...picker-upper?"

John pulled away from the hug and looked at Vriska. "...Are you suggesting we…?"

The cerulean-blood nodded and gave him a suggestive wink.

"Well, um...my old room still has a bed in it…!"

He grabbed Vriska's hand and dragged her upstairs to his bedroom, where he stopped in front of the door and gave her a suggestive smile before opening the bedroom door.

"Let's—"

John stopped dead in his tracks before groaning and facepalming. "Oh—my— _fucking_ —god!"

Both Roxy and Mr. Egbert nervously laughed. "Hi…!"

* * *

**-4:42 pm/Karkat & Terezi's house-**

"Hey, John said if we want to go to the beach with him and his family next month he needs to know by tomorrow," Karkat told his wife as she entered the kitchen with several grocery bags.

"Yeah, that's fine." Terezi sighed and thought of how she would do this. She somehow had to put away the groceries and sneak a particular item out of the bag without Karkat noticing.

She started to put away some of the foods before turning around to face Karkat. "Have you checked on Katrina lately?" she suddenly asked, making Karkat furrow his brow.

"I just checked on her twenty minutes ago; it's not like I totally ignore her," he said.

"Well...I don't know. I just feel like she needs to be checked on."

Karkat sighed before getting up out of the chair. "If you say so." He walked out of the kitchen and went upstairs to check on his daughter.

_Now's my chance!_  Terezi thought, quickly reaching into a bag and grabbing the box. She hurried into the bathroom and turned on the light, locking the door behind her.

She read the all-too-familiar instructions before doing exactly what they told her to do and waited. She'd had this wait several times before, although always more exciting than this one.

Terezi didn't know how to feel about this. Of course it was life-changing, but...now that she and Karkat had Katrina, it didn't seem as important this time. They hadn't even discussed having another one. If the test came out positive...how would Karkat react?

Well, moping and fretting over the whole issue wouldn't change anything. After a few minutes, Terezi decided to turn around and look at it, then let out a small sigh of relief.

She cleaned up in the bathroom and left just as quickly as she had entered. By then, Karkat was back in the kitchen, and was snacking on some chips Terezi had just bought.

"Karkat…" Terezi sighed as she walked up to the kitchen table.

"Yeah?"

The teal-blood slowly placed the object on the table in front of Karkat.

"Terezi…?!" Karkat looked up at his wife with a confused expression. "You're not…?!"

Terezi nodded, tears forming in her eyes as a small smile appeared on her lips. "I am. We're having another grub."


	31. A Little Bit of Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone takes a much-needed vacation.

**-Sunday, June 17, 5:38 pm/Red Robin/1 year and 1 month old-**

“A burger and fries—just what I wanted for dinner!”  Karkat smiled at Terezi, who bent down to pick Katrina up.  “You seem to know exactly what I want and when I want it!”

Terezi smiled as Karkat opened the door for her.  “Well, I’d hope so!  We’ve been matesprits for sweeps and we’ve been married for nearly three years!”

  
“True, true.”

The three trolls waited for a hostess to seat them, and were relieved when one finally did, as Katrina was becoming squirmy, Terezi was, well...the troll equivalent of pregnant, and everyone was obviously hungry.

A waiter came and took their drink orders, so they all took it as time to begin conversing.  “I’m actually looking forward to Thursday,” Karkat told his wife.  “Even though we won’t know a lot of the people there, we’re going to the beach!”

“It will be interesting to see how Katrina likes it.”  Terezi turned to her daughter, who was messily scribbling on a children’s menu.  “Are you looking forward to the beach, Katrina?”

“Beach!  Beach!” the toddler squealed, her scribbling becoming more and more vigorous.

Her parents laughed before resuming their conversation.  “Thankfully we have our own room in the inn and don’t have to stay in the house John’s family rented out,” Karkat sighed.  “That would be awkward.”

“Are Vriska and John staying there?”

“John said they got lucky, and his extended family fills up the house perfectly.  So, he and Vriska are staying in the inn as well.”

Terezi nodded and looked up just as the waiter came back with their drinks.  He placed the drinks on the table, including a small cup with a lid for Katrina, and got out some straws.  “Are you ready to order?” he asked, flipping over a page on his notepad.

Karkat looked over at his wife.  “Terezi, are you…?”

“I think we need a few more minutes,” Terezi told the waiter with an embarrassed smile.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”  The waiter gave a nod to the family before leaving to go to another table.

“Everything just looks so...good!”  Terezi flipped through the menu again, her mouth literally about to water at all the gourmet burgers and other entrees.  “Why don’t you pick for me?  I can’t decide.”

“Just...get the gourmet cheeseburger.  It’s something simple.”  Karkat leaned over and pointed to the burger on Terezi’s menu.

The teal-blood nodded and looked over at Katrina. “Katrina, do you want macaroni?”

Katrina waved one of the crayons in the air.  “‘Roni!” she squealed.

“I guess that’s a yes.”

* * *

 

**-7:23 pm/Dave & Bro’s apartment-**

“Bro!” Dave whined, chasing his now-middle-aged brother around the penthouse the two shared.  “Give me my phone back!  Jade’s gonna Skype me soon!”

“Why do you need a phone to Skype!?”  The older blond laughed and peeked through his triangular shades.  “Ain’t ya gonna use your computer?”

“Just give me my fucking phone!”

After a few more minutes of chasing and diving, Dave finally had his phone back—just in time for Jade to call, too.

The younger blond grinned and sat down on the couch before hitting the “answer call” button. “Hey!” he exclaimed once Jade’s face had appeared on the screen.

“Happy Father’s Day!” Jade exclaimed, angling her webcam down to show Blake.  She grabbed his hands and made him clap, but really only irritated the baby.

“Heh, thanks.”  Dave smiled again and sighed.  “I really wish I could be there right now.”

Jade nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, my roommate moved out last week, so it’s been really lonely.  Blake gets his own room now, though.”

“That’s good...I think,” Dave responded.

“I just really wish you were here right now!”  Jade swatted Blake’s hand to prevent him from chewing on a cord.  “I don’t really feel like we’re a family yet.”

“Hey, I’m comin’ down in a few weeks so we can get his name changed.  And we’ll all be at Rose’s wedding.”

“True.  But it’s still not the same.”

Dave sighed and stared directly at the camera.  “Jade...yeah.  We’re not a family.  No matter how hard we try, we can’t be one.  At least not right now.”

The brunette stared at her computer monitor, very confused.  “...What?”

“We’re not a family, Jade.  If we keep on doing what we’ve been doing, we’re never gonna be a family.”

  
“What do you mean?”

  
“Jade...I love you.  I love you and I love Blake.  I would come and see y’all every single day if I could.  It’s really fucking stupid that we can’t be together.”

Jade smiled.  “I...wish I could see you too.  Several times a year isn’t enough.”

“Yeah, Jade I’m...I’m tired of it.”  Dave paused to think.  “Every single one of our friends has a family, and we don’t.  John is married and has a kid, Terezi’s married and has a kid—oh, she’s havin’ another one, did I tell you that?—and even Rose is getting married!”

“I know, I...hate we haven’t worked things out yet.”

There was a long silence before anyone said anything, other than Blake’s chewing on his hands.

“So...what are we going to do?” Jade asked, giving a plastic ball to Blake so he could occupy himself.

“Jade,” Dave sighed, pausing again.  He fidgeted in the desk chair for a moment before looking back up.

“Jade, marry me.”

This time there was no hesitation.

“Of course.”

* * *

 

**-10:08 pm/Karkat & Terezi’s house-**

“Karkat, I’m serious.  Get your head off my stomach; it hurts.”

“Oh.  Sorry.”  The mutant-blood kissed his wife’s bloated stomach before sitting up straight.

“Don’t do that either.”  Terezi flipped another page in her book before giving  an irritated look to Karkat.  “I’ve told you a million times, don’t get attached to it.  We still don’t know if I’ll lose it like I did the first two.”

“Hey, it’s Father’s Day.  And you’re the one reading a parenting book.”

“I’m trying to figure out what the hell we’ll do if nothing happens and we have to introduce Katrina to a grub!”

Karkat chuckled and turned to face his wife.  “Terezi, everything will be fine.”

Terezi let out a lengthy sigh and put her book down.  “Karkat, I think something might be wrong.”  She carefully placed her hand on her stomach.  “Do you know how long we’d known about Katrina when I was this big?  Two months.”

 

The mutant-blood sighed and looked at his matesprit.  “Please don’t take this offensively, but...maybe you’ve gained more weight than with Katrina?”

“Oh, so you’re calling me fat?!” Terezi accused.  “I think it’s more than one egg, Karkat.  I really do.”

Karkat leaned over and gave Terezi a kiss.  “Let’s try not to think about all the bad things, okay?  We have to pack for our trip the next two days, and we leave on Wednesday.  And our anniversary is in ten days.”

“Alright,” Terezi sighed in response.  She stuck her improvised bookmark into the book and shut it before turning off the light to go to sleep.  “Good night.”

* * *

 

**-Wednesday, June 20, 8:39 pm/Stinson Beach, California-**

“Fourteen fucking hours, Karkat.  Fourteen fucking hours!”  Terezi couldn’t avoid a surge of hormones and slapped Karkat with a magazine.  “I can’t believe you!  Why didn’t you tell me it would take this long beforehand?!”

“I did, Terezi, and you still said it would be okay!”

“Well, you should have fucking reminded me!  And it really didn’t help that Katrina screamed for half of the car ride!”

Karkat sighed and put his hand to his head.  “Terezi...we’re here for a nice, fun little family vacation, and I don’t want this to be a bad experience for Katrina.”

“Well, you’re the one who fucking did this to me!” shouted Terezi, grabbing her slightly-larger-than-a-few-days-earlier stomach.  “You helped, so you have to deal with the consequences.”

“Look, we’re here.  Pretend that everything’s okay so we don’t weird out John’s family.”

“Fine.”  The teal-blood blew on her bangs with an irritated sigh.

The Vantases’ car finally pulled into the parking lot of the inn and Karkat sighed with relief.  He parked the car in a parking space and looked at Terezi again.  “Do you want to call John and tell him we’re here while I get checked in?”

Terezi shrugged and pulled out her cell phone to call John as Karkat shut the driver’s side door and went inside to get the room key.

Back in the inn’s rental house, John answered the phone.  “Hello?”

“We’re here,” Terezi simply told the human.

“Oh.  Um…”  John looked around the living room of the rental house, which was full of his aunts, uncles, and cousins chatting and playing.  “...you’re kind of the last ones here.  Sorry if that’s awkward.”

“Look, do we need to drop by or can we just go straight to our room?”

“Someone’s hormonal,” John whispered to himself.  He coughed before actually responding.  “You can do whatever you want.  It’s kind of late, though—Vris, Casey, and I are about to go back.  Do you want us to meet you in your room to...warn you?”

“I guess,” Terezi sighed.  “See you in a few minutes.”  She hung up without really saying a formal goodbye.

A few minutes later, Karkat came back out to the car with the room key.  “Our room’s 216 on the second floor of building B,” he quietly told his wife once he had opened the car door.  “Do you want to get Katrina, and I can take the bags?”

“I just want to sleep,” replied Terezi disinterestedly.  She opened the passenger side door and got out of the car, then quietly opened the back and unbuckled Katrina out of her car seat.  “John said since it’s getting late that we should probably introduce ourselves to his family tomorrow.”

“That’s fine with me.”  Karkat opened the trunk and struggled to lift out Terezi’s suitcase.  “Holy shit, Terezi, what the fuck did you pack?!”

Terezi rolled her eyes and grabbed Katrina’s diaper bag.  “Karkat, Katrina’s stuff is in my suitcase.  Of course it would be heavier.”

“Here’s the keys.”  Karkat grunted and tossed Terezi the hotel room keys.  “You go check out the room; I’ll bring the suitcases up in a minute.”

Terezi took Katrina up the stairs to what was the Vantases’ room and quietly unlocked the door.  She flipped on the light and...was honestly kind of disappointed at what she smelled.

“This is what John would describe as ‘very 80s,’” she mumbled to herself as she set the diaper bag down on the ground.  The room didn’t exactly smell bad, but it didn’t really smell...fresh.  Two slightly uncomfortable looking chairs faced an older TV, with a small mini fridge and a cheap microwave next to it.  Down an extremely small hallway was the bedroom, which had the same older TV as the sitting area did.  The tacky floral print bedspread matched the curtains exactly, and the red carpet complemented it “well”.  A small bathroom was off of the hallway, which didn’t look that bad.  Long story short, they had definitely gotten their money’s worth with this room.

Someone knocked on the door and of course Terezi answered it.  It was Karkat, who lugged the suitcases into the room as soon as the door was open.  “Where should we set up Katrina’s bed?” he exhaustedly asked.

“Um...we could move the chairs in the sitting area, I think?”

Karkat panted and nodded, not really seeming to care about the room.  “That’s fine with me.  I  can’t wait to sleep.”

* * *

 

**-Tuesday, June 21, 9:13 am/The Inn at Stinson Beach-**

Terezi groaned before puking yet again into the toilet.  She was pregnant and hungry and just wanted to stop throwing up so she could get some food and just meet John’s family already.

“Babe?”  Karkat stuck his head into the bathroom.  “Are you alright?”

“Still throwing up.”  She gagged again, but this time released nothing.  “I think I’m almost done.”

“Good.  John said his dad and a bunch of other people made pancakes.”

Terezi nodded in response and got up to flush the toilet.  “Is Katrina dressed?” she asked.

“Yeah.”  Karkat went into the sitting area and picked Katrina up off of her play mat.  “Are you ready to meet Uncle John’s family?” he sweetly asked his daughter.

Katrina just looked up at Karkat, confused.

“I guess we’ll find out!”  The mutant-blood carried the younger into the hallway to wait for Terezi to be finished.

“I think I’m ready,” Terezi told the other two, drying off her hands with a towel.  “Let’s get this over with.”

* * *

 

**-9:29 am/The House at Stinson Beach-**

“Everyone,” John nervously began, “this is Vriska’s sister Terezi, her husband Karkat, and their daughter Katrina.”  He stood to the side to introduce the trolls to his extended family.

The adults nervously waved.  “Hi,” they all said, unsure.

Karkat and Terezi awkwardly waved back before going to sit with John and Vriska.  “How was the drive over?” John asked the family.

“Awful.”  Terezi groaned.  “Katrina cried for just about half of it, we had to stop like a million times, I had to throw up quite a bit—”

“It was really long, too,” Karkat finished for his wife.

John rolled his eyes.  “Youre not the only ones who drove, he remarked, nodding towards his dad and Rose’s mom.

“Are they still—”

“Yeah, they’re still doing whatever they do.”  John said the last part in a high-pitched, mimicky, singsong voice.

“So you’re Vriska’s sister, hm?”

The three adults turned around and saw an average sized, short haired brunette middle aged woman who looked just a little bit like John.  She was wearing a light, flowy, summery shirt that looked like it might have doubled as a swimsuit cover up and knee length khaki shorts that screamed “stereotypical white mom”.  Her hair was pulled into a tiny ponytail and she had a floppy sunhat on her head.  It was none other than John’s Aunt Joanna.

“Oh, um, Aunt Joanna…!”  John nervously laughed and gestured to his friends.  “This is Karkat, and Terezi, and their daughter Katrina.”

“How could I forget?”  Joanna smiled a smile that seemed to be a mix of a friendly one and a sneer.  “I’m John’s Aunt Joanna, it’s very nice to meet you.”

Karkat nervously shook the lady’s hand and glanced at his wife.  “...Hi.”

“So, tell me about yourselves.”  She practically forced herself to squeeze onto the couch with the Vantases.  “How long have you known John?  Where do you live?  How old is your—”

“Heh, one at a time, please.”  Karkat forced himself to laugh before taking a fidgety Katrina from Terezi.  “We’ve known John just as long as Vriska has. Since we were thirteen.”

“Oh, so a while then?”  Joanna crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knees.  “You three sure did get in late last night,” she commented stiffly.

“Yeah, well, we live in Washington and we drove here.”  Karkat was already beginning to get fed up with this woman and he had barely even talked to her.  “It took us fourteen hours.”

“Why didn’t you just fly?” Aunt Joanna asked, though she was sure she already knew the answer.

“We can’t afford to.”  Terezi just knew this was the aunt Vriska always complained about.  “We’re paying for my college education and law school straight out of our bank account with financial aid barely covering anything...we have Katrina to take care of...oh, and I’m currently pregnant.”  She grinned a sarcastic grin that made Aunt Joanna shift uncomfortably.

“Oh, well...I see.”  The older woman coughed before standing up and brushing off her shorts.  “There’s pancakes for breakfast.”

Once Aunt Joanna had left, Vriska turned to Terezi and raised an eyebrow.  “I told you so.”

“I understand now,” sighed Terezi, placing her hand on her stomach. “This is really awkward.”

* * *

 

**-11:42 am-**

By lunchtime, Karkat and Terezi had met all of John’s extended family.  Some of them they had already met some time before—Bob and Peggy, they had been around for quite a while, but had formally met at Casey’s birthday party, and they had met John’s Uncle Steve and Aunt Brooke at Mr. Egbert’s New Year’s Eve party (Terezi had no idea how Brooke had managed to come, as she was currently pregnant and had mentioned her due date was a little more than a month away).  The daily repertoire had been passed around from person to person, and everyone had decided on eating lunch at the beach.

Karkat decided he would help make the sandwiches.  Currently, he was in the kitchen with Mr. Egbert and a couple of John’s uncles, doing the only cooking related job several of the wives thought men could do (they were painfully mistaken, though).  It was the “sandwich basics” being made—peanut butter and jelly, turkey, and ham, though Mr. Egbert was avoiding the peanut butter and making a special roast beef sandwich for John.  Terezi had requested a sandwich with “all the toppings”, so Karkat was trying to fill her request as well. (11020)

Terezi brought Katrina into the kitchen with her, bringing on a few stares from several of John’s family members.  “How’s everything coming?” she asked her husband, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Done with everyone else’s, still need to finish yours.”  The mutant-blood put down several slices of roast beef before putting a dollop of mayonnaise on top of it.  “Anything else you want with it?”

“Not that I can think of.”

Katrina began reaching out towards Karkat  and kicking at Terezi to be let down.  “Don’t kick Mama’s tummy,” Terezi told her daughter as she set her down on the floor.  “Your little brother or sister is growing in there; you don’t want to hurt them.”

“Da!”  The tiny Vantas ran up to her father and hugged his legs.  Karkat chucked a little and looked at her before going back to finishing Terezi’s custom sandwich.  

“Well, there it is.”  Karkat bent down and picked up Katrina before showing Terezi the very large and interesting sandwich in the plastic baggie.  “Hopefully that will satisfy your cravings,”

Terezi smiled and gave Karkat a kiss.  “You’re the best.”

* * *

 

**-12:18 pm/Stinson Beach-**

Terezi uncomfortably dragged her legs through the sand, exhausted from walking all the way from the inn to the beach.  “Karkat,” she whined, “did we have to walk?”

“It was only a few blocks,” Karkat sighed. He pulled Katrina’s hat down a bit more over her face to protect her eyes from the blazing sun.  “We’re here now, though, and we’re about to eat lunch.  Then we can see how much Katrina likes the water, if at all.”

“Ugh, fine!”  The teal-blood continued to follow the group to an emptier spot on the beach until everyone stopped to set up.  A couple of people had brought tents and most everyone had foldable chairs, but Karkat and Terezi only had beach towels.

Karkat handed Katrina to Terezi before dumping out a bag of towels and other beach related items.  “Is right here fine?” he asked his wife, who nodded.

“This is her first time at the beach, right?” John’s Uncle Steve (the friendly one) asked.

Terezi nodded.  “She’s never really been in any kind of water outside the bathtub, actually, so I’m interested to see how this goes.”

Uncle Steve chuckled.  “This is Annabelle’s first time at the beach, too.  Katrina’s just a little bit younger than her, right?”

“She’s about Casey’s age.”  Terezi sat Katrina down on a beach towel and then sat down herself.  “I...hope she doesn’t eat the sand, though, haha.”

Steve chuckled and unfolded his chair right next to the Vantases’ spot on the beach.  (11461). "I don't remember any of ours doing that, but I understand the worry."

Brooke, his wife, decided to put her chair down next to her husband.  "Steve, could you go talk to Chase?" she sighed, tiredly plopping down into the canvas chair.  "He's refusing to put sunscreen on.  Something about it being 'not cool'."

"Well, it's really going to be 'not cool' when he gets sunburned." Steve grunted and got up out of the chair to get onto his son.

Brooke let out another sigh and turned to the female troll.  "Being pregnant sucks," she simply said.

"Tell me about it."  Terezi leaned over and grabbed Katrina's leg to prevent her from crawling away and into some trouble.  "I don't know how hard it will be once the new baby's born, taking care of both it and Katrina.  Katrina’s not too bad, though I’m not so sure how quickly that will change…”

The blonde woman laughed and tried to get comfortable.  “Annabelle has just started that phase.  

Thankfully Steven and Chase are there to help out when we can’t control her.”

“I wish we had someone to help out with Katrina.”  Terezi laughed sadly, deciding now would be a good time to use “the lie”.  “Vriska’s and my dad left our mom before we were born, and...she died about five years ago.

Brooke gasped and put her hand to her mouth.  “That’s...that’s awful.”

Terezi nodded.  “Methamphetamine addiction is an awful thing.  It didn’t help that she was an alcoholic, too.”

“Well, I wish Joanna would realize that,” she whispered to the troll, making sure John’s other aunt didn’t hear.  “She automatically assumes that Vriska’s a slut, a bad mother, just because she—and you, I guess—didn’t have great parents.  She also thinks John’s misguided because Maggie died, so he’s ‘set low expectations’ for the women in his life!”

Rolling her eyes, the teal-blood smirked.  “I think she’s the misguided one.”

Both women laughed just as Karkat came back over to them.  “What are we talking about?” he asked.

“You know who.  And not Voldemort,” Terezi responded.

“Not like she’d know who Voldemort is—because ‘Harry Potter’s a sin’!”

Karkat, Terezi, and Brooke laughed.  “She reminds me of my brother,” commented Karkat.  “He literally will not shut up about anything.  It’s really annoying.”

Aunt Brooke coughed.  “Speak of the devil.”

Joanna walked up to the four with a smile on her face.  “Can I get either of you anything?” she asked with an innocent smile.  “I know just how hard being pregnant is; I have three kids, remember?”

“May God bless their poor little souls.”  Brooke shook her head before looking back up.  “I’m fine; I’m not sure about...Teresa, is it?”

“Terezi,” the troll corrected.  “And no, I’m okay.”

“Well, if you need anything…!”  Aunt Joanna walked away without another word.

* * *

 

**-1:04 pm-**

“Katrina!” Terezi cooed, carefully sitting down at the edge of the ocean with her daughter in her lap.  “This is the ocean!”

Katrina kicked at the water and laughed, enjoying the splashing sound it made.  “Oh!” she exclaimed, not fully grasping the word, but it was close enough.

Karkat snapped a few pictures with his phone before putting it back in the plastic baggy and sitting down next to his wife and daughter.  “Today has actually been a pretty nice day,” he told his wife before giving her a kiss.

Terezi giggled.  “Hopefully we can make the next two days exactly like this one.”

The mutant-blood smiled as he watched Katrina crawl just a little deeper into the water and slap the foam with her hand.  “Hey Princess,” he told her, “we’ll be able to come back tomorrow, and the next day, alright?  And tonight we’re going to a lighthouse, and tomorrow we’re going to drive down to San Francisco and see things there, and—”

A laugh from Terezi interrupted his sentence.  “You know,” she told him, “I think we’ll be just fine with the new grub.”

Karkat rolled his eyes but continued to smile.  “Yeah.  I think so, too.”

****  
  



	32. Alternia

**-Friday, July 13, 2:47 pm / Karkat & Terezi’s house / 1 year and 2 months old-**

“So I was thinking, if the grub is a girl we could name her Isabella, or Eloise, or Molly, and if it’s a boy we could name him Asher, or Isaac, or Carson—”

“At the rate my stomach’s growing, I think we’ll need to use all of those,” Terezi laughed, getting up from the kitchen table to eat a snack.  “I look like Vriska when she was six months pregnant, Karkat.  It’s not fun.”

“Well...as that human saying goes, ‘the more, the merrier’.”  Karkat sighed and continued to go through his list of names he had compiled in Microsoft Word.  

Terezi got a plate out of a cabinet and set it on the counter.  “My boss is letting me take a leave starting this next week,” she told her husband.  “I can’t take off from my internship yet, though.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to take off from my internship yet,” laughed the teal-blood.  “It’s too fun, even if I am just organizing things and delivering papers.”

“Terezi...you should really do what’s best for the grub...s?”  Karkat sighed before turning around in the chair.  “If you’re going on leave at the restaurant, it would be a good idea to go on leave at your internship.”

“Fine, I’ll ask about it on Tuesday.”  Terezi put the bean dip she had gotten out back in the fridge.

Both her phone and Karkat’s computer blipped with a message from Pesterchum/Trollian.  “It’s...Nepeta,” the mutant-blood said with a confused expression.

Terezi furrowed her brow and went to check her phone.  Once she read the message, though, she understood what was going on.

“It’s time for them to go,” she simply stated in a quiet, sepulchral tone.

“I...forgot about that.”  Karkat sighed and clicked on Nepeta’s message.  “We just got the orders to go,” he read aloud.

“ _WHO IS ‘WE’?_ ” Karkat typed back.

“ _:(( < everyone—me, equihiss, sollux, tafuros!_”

“Why did I forget this would be happening?”  Terezi let out a lengthy sigh and plopped down in a chair next to Karkat, resting her hands on her stomach.

“Terezi…” Karkat gulped.  “Get Katrina’s stuff together.  We’re going to say goodbye.”

The teal-blood nearly choked on her own spit.  “What?!” she exclaimed.  “Karkat, we can’t do that!”

“This could be the last time we see everyone, Terezi!  They might be dead in a few years!”

“Karkat, we cannot take Katrina there, even if we’re just saying goodbye!”  Terezi looked as if she were about to cry, which Karkat guessed was a combination of hormones and actually feeling sad.  “It’s time for those being deported to donate genetic material, and you’re a mutant who doesn’t have a kismesis, and I’m not even sure if I can donate any!  And besides...I don’t want Katrina to know about that awful, awful place.  It’d be best for her not to, and we just...make up stories.”

“Please, Terezi,” Karkat begged.  “I want her to know the good parts of Alternia that aren’t the Imperial Palace, and...we need to say goodbye to Nepeta, and Sollux, and the others that don’t hate us.  And...there’s always the hope that Crabdad’s still alive, though I doubt it.”

Terezi groaned and cradled her stomach to make a point.  “Karkat, even if this is the last time we can see our friends, going to Alternia right now would be extremely dangerous!  Like I said, what if the drones see us and force us to donate genetic material?”

“They might not—”

“—And if they do see us, only I have a kismesis, and you’re a mutant!  Even if we act as both matesprits and kismeses and you try to hide your blood, there is the possibility of them detecting your mutation!  I’m not even sure if I can fill a pail anyway, and if I can, what if it’s not fertile material since I’m already carrying eggs!  And what about Katrina?  She doesn’t know how to listen to complex orders!”

Karkat sighed, thinking of some way to convince Terezi to go to Alternia with him.  “...You’ll never get to see Pyralspite or Lemonsnout ever again,” he teased.

“My scalemates?” she gasped.  “Not Inspector Berrybreath, or Professor Pucefoot, or Doctor Honeytongue, or Liaison Pumpkinsnuffle...and especially not Senator Lemonsnout or Pyralspite!”

The mutant blood smirked, happy at his succes.  “Do you want me to get a bag together?”

“I’ll get the snacks.”

* * *

 

**-4:01 pm/somewhere on Alternia-**

“Why do I have to be the one to carry all your stupid scalemates?” growled Karkat, trying to keep all of them from falling out of his arms.  “Did we have to take back all of them?!”

“Of course we did,” Terezi replied as she pulled Katrina along.  “I have Katrina and the bag of stuff, so you get to carry the scalemates.  We’re almost to your old hive anyway.”

Karkat suddenly remembered something and stopped.  “What?” asked his wife in an irritated tone.

The mutant took a deep breath after a long pause.  “I promised Gamzee he could come,” the troll simply said.  “For all I know, Tavros has probably convinced him to get doped up on sopor again, so hopefully he’ll be like he used to be when we were younger.”

Terezi turned up her nose.  “That still doesn’t change the fact that we’re kismeses.  I don’t want him laying a finger on Katrina.  You can hang out with him all you want, but neither I nor Katrina will get within five feet of him.”

“If you insist.”  Karkat sighed before continuing on towards the outline of buildings (hives) in the distance.  “Well, here it is.  Let’s be quick before anyone catches us.”

The family quickly made their way into the hive before anyone could notice and shut the door.  Immediately Karkat dropped all the scalemates and stood there, silent.  Where he used to live, his old hive, was a complete wreck.  After he and Terezi had left Alternia, it looked like some of the other trolls from the neighborhood had broken in and stolen some things.  Once he, Terezi, and Katrina got around to exploring the hive, they found posters to be ripped up if not completely taken down, romcoms and romance novels stolen, even a bit of graffiti on the walls.  “I...I can’t believe this,” he quietly said, bending down to examine what was left of a cheesy romance novel.

“This is Alternia, Karkat, what did you expect?”  Terezi set Katrina down on the floor and kicked some junk out of the way.  “When is everyone getting here?” she asked.

“It should be any—”

“Hi Karkat!” Nepeta exclaimed, leaving Equius’ side to hug her past flushed crush and roleplaying friend.  “Terezi!  And...Katrina!”

Terezi smiled.  “You got her name right this time!” she exclaimed, giving her olive-blooded friend a hug.  “It’s only been a couple of Earth months, but...you’ve changed.”

“Of course I have,” the troll told her friend.  “We should be leaving in a few days.”

“It’s a good thing we came when we did, I guess.”  Terezi let out a tired sigh, rubbing her back and looking to her husband.  “Karkat, is there a chair anywhere?  I’m not sure how much longer I can stand—”

Nepeta’s eyes lit up with surprise, which made Equius roll his. “Terezi?” she asked in a suggestive voice.  “Are you and Kark—”

The four were interrupted when several more trolls entered the respite block.  As was expected, their eyes gravitated towards Katrina, who confusedly looked up from biting on a book.  “Mama?” she squeaked as Aradia’s ghost floated into the room and over to the group, which startled her.

“Tho why are you guyth here?” asked Sollux as he crossed his arms.  “And why’d you have to bring…”  He looked over at Katrina.  “...her?”

“Well, she can’t stay by herself.”  Karkat paused and looked at all the trolls who had just entered.  Sollux, Aradia’s ghost, and Tavros.  It looked like the lowbloods had all come together.

Tavros coughed nervously and rubbed his arms.  “Uh-um…  Where’s Vr-Vriska?” he stuttered, looking around the room for any sign of the cerulean blood.

“Looking for me, Tavros?”  Vriska laughed before entering Karkat’s respiteblock with Kanaya right behind her.  “I’ll bet you still have flushed feelings for me, huh?”

“N-no, no I-I—”

“How did you get here?” asked Terezi, who finally decided to sit down on the floor next to her daughter.

“Kanaya told me.”

The jade blood nodded.  “I thought...it would be a good idea to say goodbye to everyone.”

The trolls got to talking, neither Karkat nor Terezi mentioning the grub for the sake of their own safety.  Sometime during all that, Eridan and Feferi came in.

“God, Fef, why’d you have to make me come with you?”

“I said I wouldn’t fill the red pail with you unless you came with me, remember?”

“Okay!” Karkat exclaimed with a sigh.  “Can we not talk about this, please?!”

“Hey, you’re the one who somehow managed to reproduce naturally!”

“Vriska managed to do so too!” the mutant blood challenged, pointing to the human/troll hybrid toddler who was safe in her mother’s arms.

“Yes, but that was with a human…!”

Amidst all the arguing going on in the room, the door opened.  Everyone stopped and stared at the open doorway.

“Katrina,” Terezi whispered, grabbing the young troll’s shirt and pulling her closer to her, “do. not. make. a. sound.”

The trolls continued to stare at the tall, looming figure in the doorway before anyone said anything.

“Honk.”

“Gam...Gamzee…”  Karkat was speechless.  He didn’t even say anything to his ex moirail, and he still came anyway.  Could he read minds or something?  Nah, that wasn’t possible...hopefully he wasn’t trying to do anything harmful…

“Karbro!” exclaimed the purple blood, tossing one of his clubs in the air with a drunken laugh.  “Long time no see, motherfucker.”

Karkat struggled to say anything.  “Gamzee, I...um…”

“Get away from my daughter!” Terezi screamed unexpectedly, holding Katrina tightly to her chest.  The room was silent.  Gamzee hadn’t even said anything to her, hadn’t even acknowledged she was there, and she was already getting defensive.

The tallest troll let out a deep laugh.  “Tavbro told me,” he smirked, beginning to walk towards where the Vantases were.  

“Tavros!”  Vriska hit the chocolate-blood on the arm with her purse before waiting for Gamzee to continue.

Terezi slowly stood up and set Katrina to the side, bracing herself for a fight or at least an argument.  She crossed her arms in a quick attempt to hide her stomach, but…

_“Terezi!”_

_It took a few seconds for her to realize what happened.  She was face to face with that lying, abusive motherfucker, and she had an awful pain in her stomach.  Her nose smelled a familiar smell and she looked down and…_

_“No!” she cried, grasping her pregnant stomach in pain.  Teal blood was seeping through the crotch of her pants, running onto the floor, making a puddle.  Terezi doubled over, still clutching her stomach, and began to sob.  The grubs...they were gone.  Katrina wasn’t going to be a big sister anymore.  All because of that stupid—_

“Terezi, no!” Karkat exclaimed, jumping in front of his wife to block the hit from the murderous troll.  Terezi gasped, ducking out of the way just in time for one of Gamzee’s clubs to hit Karkat straight on the arm.  A sharp crack was heard, and the mutant blood cried out in pain as he grasped his forearm.

“You...gah!...this is why I’m not your moirail anymore,” scolded Karkat as he continued to hold his arm close to his body.  “Don’t you dare hurt my matesprit, my wife, or my children.”

Terezi ran to her husband’s side to figure out what was wrong while the other trolls stood there in silence.  “I think my arm’s broken,” Karkat grunted, painfully sticking out his arm for his wife to examine.  “No, don’t—aah!—don’t touch it there?”

The teal blood only had one thing to say to her husband.  “Augeth?”

Karkat nodded.  “Augeth.”

* * *

 

**-Augeth’s hive-**

“Please be here, please be here!” mumbled Terezi, banging on the door of the shack-like hive not too far from Sollux’s.  “Are you okay, Karkat?”

“What do you mean, ‘are you okay’, it still hurts!”  He glanced at Katrina, who had her hand in her father’s good one.  “Is she there?”

“I don’t know, she hasn’t—”

The door opened and there stood a troll the Vantases were unfamiliar with.  “Are you here for Augeth?” the unfamiliar troll asked the family as she carefully scanned them with her eyes.

Terezi desperately nodded.  “Tell her Karkat and Terezi are here.”

The other troll closed the door, presumably to go get the troll the Vantases were actually looking for.  Finally, the door opened, this time by Augeth.

“Come in,” she sighed, stepping out of the way to let the trolls in.  “What’s the problem this time?  I hate to rush you but be quick; I’m not sure when the drones are coming!”

Karkat held up his arm and winced in pain.  “This.”

“Ooh.”  Augeth cringed and told the mutant-blood to sit down while she opened a cabinet.  “That’s definitely broken.  Let me see if I can find something to set it with—”

She went silent and began nervously rummaging through the cabinet.  “Um...I...kind of ran out of supplies…”

“What?!” exclaimed Karkat, trying not to move his arm too much but failed as he cried out in pain.  “I can’t just...go home with a broken arm!”

Augeth sighed.  “I know where to get them,” she said as she turned around, “but it’s in Skaxis.”

“We can’t go into the city!” Terezi groaned, protectively folding her hands over her stomach.  “The drones might be out, we’d have no one to watch Katrina, and…”  She let out a soft laugh.  “…I’m having a fucking grub!”

The yellow-blooded troll let out an audible gasp.  “Really?” she squeaked, dropping everything she was doing to examine Terezi.  The teal-blood, though, awkwardly shyed away, guarding her belly.

“What are you doing?” asked Augeth, trying to get another glance of where the grub was developing.  “How am I supposed to do any research when you won’t show me?”

“Look, I’m worried about Karkat right now.  How are we supposed to go to Skaxis?  Karkat will get culled for being in pain—oh, and a mutant—, I obviously have a grub growing in my egg sac, if that’s a thing, and then there’s Katrina.  There’s no way we can all go without something bad happening.”

Augeth though for a moment, beginning to pace around the room.  I really need to get those supplies, she thought, but Terezi may be right.  There’s no way all of us can go.

“Obrina!” she called, waiting for the troll the Vantases had seen earlier to come downstairs.  “This is my matesprit, Obrina,” she announced, “and she’s going to come with us.”

“...Us?” Karkat asked suggestively.  “Augeth,  we just said, not all of us can go.  It would be too dangerous.”

“That’s why it will be just me, Obrina, and Terezi.”

“What?!”

The yellow-blood went into a back room, leaving Obrina awkwardly standing there with Karkat, Terezi, and Katrina.  “I’m Obrina,” she finally said in an accent somewhere in between what humans would call British and Australian.  “Augeth has told me a lot about you.  It’s so interesting, what she’s told me.  I've never thought it to be possible.”

“Yeah, well, we didn’t either,” Terezi remarked as she rummaged through the diaper bag to find something for Katrina to play with.  “Katrina, do you want this?”

“Coco!” exclaimed the tiny troll, crawling over to her mother to take the tiny red puffball she had had since she was a grub.  She began hugging the stuffed pillow like thing and eventually fell over on top of it like she was about to go to sleep.

Augeth re-entered the room with what looked like a long, black blanket.  “Put this on,” she told Terezi, revealing it to be a type of cloak.  “No one will be able to tell you’re going to have a grub.”

The teal blooded troll threw the piece of black fabric around her and found it to be extremely soft.  “This...this might work.  If we get caught, it’s all your fault.”

“Fine, fine, but I promise you we won’t.”  Augeth turned to her matesprit and began whispering something about snacks, then Obrina nodded and went back upstairs.  “We’re going to get some snacks and then we’ll be off, alright?  It’s no more than a fifteen minute walk and I know exactly where we’re getting them.”

“You’d better,” grunted Karkat before grabbing a scalemate so he’d have something soft to rest his arm on.

Within ten minutes the group was ready to be on their way.  Terezi kissed Karkat and Katrina goodbye and got a goodbye kiss in return, except not from Katrina because she had fallen asleep.  The teal blood turned her phone on vibrate and stuck it in her back pocket, just in case Karkat called (if they could even get reception on Alternia).  

“Okay,” Augeth sighed, beginning to open the door, “let’s go.”

* * *

 

The group walked for fifteen minutes, just like Augeth had said, before they finally reached Skaxis.  A weathered, worn down sign annoucing “SKAXIS” in large letters of the Alternian alphabet sat at the city limits, providing a grim greeting to those who entered.  The three walked to just before the sign and stopped.  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Augeth asked Terezi.  “If you think you might be in danger, you can go back.”

Terezi shook her head.  “If it helps Karkat, then I want to go.”

“Are you sure?”

The teal-blood gave a large nod.  “I’m sure.”

Augeth, Obrina, and Terezi all took a deep breath before finally stepping within the city limits of Skaxis.  Immediately they noticed a change in mood and lifestyle.  While the outskirts of the city was diverse in flora and fauna, the city barely had any, if at all.  A few squeakbeasts scurried down an alley full of garbage and what looked like rotting corpses.  As the group ventured deeper into the city, some things got worse, but others got better.  The legitimate architecture became nicer and more renaissance, and Terezi realized they were entering the legal district  “I had always dreamed of being a legislacerator,” she commented as they walked past the main building similar to a courthouse on Earth.  “I would hold mock trials and everything.”

“Don’t you have a job on Earth?” asked Obrina carefully, afraid someone would hear.  “I don’t know too much about it, but I thought that humans needed a job to survive.”

Terezi nodded.  “I’m not a lawyer right now—that’s the human equivalent of a legislacerator—but I’m studying to be one.  It’s kind of hard, but I can’t wait until I’m actually—”

Augeth grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.  “It’s this way,” she told the other trolls as she turned down a long alley.

“What...is this place?”  Terezi coughed from smoke inhalation and pulled the cloak up over her nose.  “We’re not...going to the slums, are we?”

“Ehhh…”  The yellow blood nervously laughed.  “Surely you know the trolls who live in the slums have the best black market set up, yes?”

“I did _not_ come with you to buy things off the black market!” exclaimed Terezi.  “This is worse than I thought it would be!  We could get—”

“Shh!”  Augeth clamped her hand over Terezi’s mouth as a drone marched past the alley.  “You need to shut up so we don’t get caught.”

The rest of the journey to the slums was slightly terrifying as they had a near run in with drones several times.  Eventually, though, the buildings and dwellings became more and more run down and the group understood they had finally made it to the slums.

Augeth knew her way around, as she had often bought things from and sold things on the troll black market, so she led her matesprit and friend around before finally coming upon the block she needed to go to.  She knocked some sort of code onto the side of one of the huts before a curtain slid back.  “Yes?” asked a female troll in a raspy voice before remembering who it was.  “Augeth,” she sighed with relief, “do come in.”

“I’ve...brought some friends,” Augeth quietly said, stepping out of the way to reveal Obrina and Terezi.

The female troll looked disappointed.  “I don’t have enough room in here,” she sadly said.  “If we’re going to do business then they’ll have to wait outside.”

Obrina and Terezi had heard what the woman had said, so they didn’t even say anything.  “I guess…we could look around,” Obrina suggested.

“Be careful.”  Augeth gave her matesprit a kiss before going inside the hut and closing the curtain.

Obrina sighed and turned to Terezi.  “Where do you want to go first?”

* * *

 

Terezi was surprised at how much was being sold in the slums.  It was almost like a miniature bazaar.  There were trolls selling plants, trolls selling handmade items, and even trolls selling food (Terezi just had to take a free sample; it smelled surprisingly good!).

“What is this?” she asked the merchant, who looked to be a few sweeps younger than she was.

The younger troll smiled.  “Grub meat,” he proudly announced, gesturing to a fire pit where a grub was roasting on a stick.

Terezi let out an audible gasp before clutching her stomach and putting her hand over her mouth in disgust.  “I’m gonna be sick…” she mumbled before dashing off down the long row of huts.

“Terezi…!” Obrina called, running after the teal blood.  “Wait…!”

She kept running and running, trying not to throw up, before finally finding a nice spot to empty her stomach.  “Are you alright?” asked Obrina as Terezi let up her food onto the ground.  “What was the matter?  Did it taste badly?”

Terezi shook her hand and wiped her mouth before standing up straight again.  “I just...ate...a grub!” she exclaimed, holding her stomach again.  “I’m a cannibal!”

“You are not a cannibal,” Obrina reassured, putting her hands on the teal blood’s back and helping her along.  “Everything is fine, we just need to do something to get your mind off of things—”

“You don’t understand!”  Terezi pulled Obrina’s hands off of her and turned around.  “You’ll never understand.”  As she was having a hormonal fit, Terezi wrapped the cloak more tightly around her and ran off.

She couldn’t even hear the troll calling her name as she ran—she just ran.  Away from the dead grubs, away from the awful troll selling them—she just wanted to run.

“Excuse me,” a young troll squeaked, “would you like to buy a book?”  She held out a worn copy of some book Terezi didn’t recognize, but the teal blood ignored her.  She continued to run down the row of slums, getting bombarded with requests to buy things.

Eventually she reached the end of the row and came to a dead end.  “You’re not gonna get out right there, you know,” a male troll  chuckled, and Terezi turned around.  “Would you like to buy a hat?” he continued.  “They’re made from freshly culled grubs…”

Terezi’s heart started beating, hard.  She didn’t know what to do.  She was at a dead end, surrounded by dead grubs and some psycho who thought killing them was okay.  Killing them and wearing them on your head.  She took a few quick breaths to smell where she could escape, and then she smelled them.

Cages.  Packed to the brim with grubs.  Grubs who were still alive.  

Grubs who could be saved.

She didn’t know what came over her, but she snatched one of the cages and ran.  

“Hey!” yelled the troll who was selling the hats, trying to get up from the table as quickly as possible so he could recover his “catch”.  “Come back here!”

Terezi gasped for breath and continued to run as fast as she could, being pregnant and carrying a thirty pound cage.  The other troll’s yelling and her running caused many of the other trolls in the slums to come out of their huts and watch what was going on.

“Give me those!” the other troll continued as Terezi paused to catch her breath.  “Thief!”

Terezi couldn’t stop now.  She somehow had to get both Augeth and Obrina so they could return to where Karkat and Katrina were, all without giving up the cage of grubs she had rescued/stolen. She also had the risk of being caught and beat up, or, even worse, picked up by a drone.

Augeth and the troll she was talking to heard all the commotion outside, and stuck their heads out of the hut to get a glimpse of what was going on.  Once Augeth realized she recognized the troll who was causing the noise, however, she jumped out from behind the curtain to run after her.

Terezi didn’t even bother to look back.  The only thing on her mind was saving those poor, innocent grubs who were destined to be killed and turned into headwear.  She saw the end of the small alley and was getting ready to make her escape, but something stopped her from going any further.

A pair of hands grabbed the cage from hers and shoved her to the ground.  “In the name of Her Imperious Condescension, you’re under arrest,” a man’s voice sternly told Terezi, digging the heel of his familiar teal boot into her back and causing her to gasp for breath.  From what little whiff she got, he was a legislacerator who had been called to deal with the commotion going on.  Very ironic considering that’s what she'd wanted to do all her life.

“Please...don’t…” Terezi begged in a raspy, strained voice.  “I can’t...breathe…”  She gasped for breath when the legislacerator lifted his boot off of her back and kicked her to the side, then yanked her up by the arm.

“You and your accomplice are to be taken to the Imperial Palace,” the legislacerator stated, jerking Terezi’s arms behind her back and handcuffing them.  “Her Imperious Condecension will decide what to do with the both of you.”  He did the same to Augeth, who had the misfortune of being identified as the accomplice just because she ran after her friend.

The legislacerator grabbed both trolls by the arms and began dragging them down the alley and finally towards the Alternian equivalent of a courthouse.  “The grubs will be culled immediately and you two will be taken to the Imperial Palace.  Understood?”

Terezi and Augeth quickly nodded, too scared to react otherwise.

Meanwhile, Obrina had somehow managed to sneak out of the slums and was basically running for her life.  What took fifteen minutes to get to the city only took about eight due to her increased speed, and soon she had reached Augeth’s hive in no time.

“Do you have it?” asked Karkat, still in pain from his arm.  When he saw that Obrina was the only adult troll there besides him, and that she was panting, he began to get concerned.  “Where’s...where’s Augeth?  Where’s Terezi?”

Obrina shook her head, tears beginning to form in her eyes.  “It’s bad,” she nervously said, “bad, bad, bad!”

“What happened?!” Karkat demanded.  “They’d better not be in trouble!”

Obrina gulped.  “They’re meeting with the Condesce.  She’s going to execute them.”

* * *

 

**-The Imperial Palace-**

“Your Majesty, we have some delinquents here for you.”

“Well, bring ‘em in already!”

The legislacerator shoved the teal- and yellow bloods through the heavy fuchsia colored doors and into the throne room where the Condesce currently was.  The Alternian empress looked confused and stood up when she saw who had entered her palace.  “Oh,” she said with disdain, “it’s you again.”

Augeth looked at Terezi with surprise.  “Again?!” she whispered with an exhausted expression on her face.

“Yeah, it’s not the first time a certain teal blood has fucked up.”  The Condesce rolled her eyes and stood up.  “Looks like she’s fucked up another thing - or should I say someone -, too.”

Terezi would have crossed her arms defensively if they weren’t currently in handcuffs.  “So?” she nervously disputed, avoiding looking Her Imperious Condescension directly in the eye.

“Y’all...know that’s taboo, right?  Y’all ain’t supposed to do that, and I’m technically supposed to kill ya for doin’ that, right?”

“Yeah…”  The teal blood nervously groaned, trying to convince herself that everything would be okay.  

“So, that means I’m gonna have to kill ya, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Wrong!” the Condesce cackled.

“What?” Terezi and Augeth exclaimed simultaneously, both extremely confused.

“You just said...you were going to kill me, and now you’re not going to kill me?  That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, if ya haven’t noticed, I don’t make a whole lotta sense.”  The fuschia blood pulled a nail file out of somewhere in her jumpsuit and began filing her nails intimidatingly.  “Besides, I can use these next few just like I’mma use lil’ Katrina.”

“And why exactly do you want to use my children?”  Terezi was beginning to get extremely irritated and just wanted to leave, if she could.  “Surely you wouldn’t want to use a bunch of mutants to hold the throne.”

The Condesce laughed again.  “I’d never use the lil’ fuckers for that!  I do have a line of heirs an’ heiresses set up, but if they don’t wanna take it I can always give it to Feferi.”

Terezi and Augeth were exhausted and neither felt like commenting this time, so they just glanced at each other before looking back to the empress.

“So, long story short,” Condy continued, “don’t fuck anything up again, got it?  If either of ya does anything ridiculously stupid, like this time...let’s just say I know a whole lotta ways to kill somebody.”

The other two trolls seriously nodded and didn’t dare say anything.

“Aight, now get outta here.”  She motioned for the legislacerator to unlock the handcuffs on both Augeth and Terezi and waved the three away before sitting back down in her throne, ready to attend to more important bullshit.

* * *

 

“Oh my god, Terezi, what happened?!”  Karkat did his best to jump up off the floor, where he had been laying in agony, and hugged his wife.  “You’re so fucking stupid!”

“I know, Karkat, I know.”  The teal blood couldn’t stop the tears flowing from her eyes.  “There were grubs, and they were going to be killed, and I ate one, and—”

“Wait—you ate a grub?!”

“I didn’t know what they were!”  Terezi sobbed again and threw her arms around her matesprit.  “We couldn’t even get the supplies, either!”

Augeth sighed and tried to calm herself down.  “Guys...I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you this time,” she apologized.  “It’s even worse that this is the last time we’ll get to see each other.  It’s weird, I’ve always been a bit apprehensive whenever someone comes to me asking for help, but...the three of you have been a special case.  Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m happy Katrina caught Noveria.”

Terezi whispered something to Karkat.  His eyes got wide, but continued to listen to what his wife had to say.  Augeth and Obrina were confused, but just waited patiently.

“Augeth, Obrina.”  Terezi wiped her eyes and collected herself before looking up at the two trolls.  “This is a crazy idea, but please listen to me.”

“Okay…?”  
  
“How would the two of you...like to come to Earth with us?”

Augeth and Obrina stared at Terezi with disbelief.  “Are you serious?” Obrina exclaimed, beginning to laugh.

Karkat nodded.  “We’re serious.  We have an extra room in our house—that’s the human word for hive, by the way—that the two of you can stay in.  And a few new stores have opened in the area, so I’m sure they’re looking for people to hire.”

The two girlfriends nodded enthusiastically.  “Thank you, thank you so much!” Augeth laughed.  “We don’t know how we’ll ever repay you.”

“Well, you won’t have to be forced to mate and then shipped off to outer space, isn’t that enough?” chuckled Terezi, placing her hand on her stomach.  “We should probably hurry, though; it would be a good idea to take Karkat to the hospital to get his arm checked out—not like you can’t do that, but...Earth doctors are good.”

“Alright, I’ll get some stuff together!” Augeth couldn’t stop herself from hugging Terezi before dashing up the stairs.  “This is great!”


	33. Surprise

**-Wednesday, August 1, 5:47 pm / Rose & Kanaya’s condo / 1 year & 2 ½ months old-**

“Sorry I couldn’t do this sooner,” Terezi apologized as Kanaya opened the door to the condo she shared with Rose and Ms. Lalonde.  “Karkat and I started painting the nursery this weekend.”

“What color did you choose this time?”  Kanaya led her teal-blooded friend into the living area, where Rose and her mom were discussing something wedding related.

“Actually, we just chose beige.  It’s simple, and we’ll have a lot to work with.”  Terezi set her bag down on the floor by the couch and cracked her back.  “Katrina got a ‘big girl bed’ this weekend, too.”

“And how has that worked out?”

“Let’s just say sharing a bed with two people while being pregnant is not very fun.”    
  
Kanaya walked into the kitchen and took a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge.  “Would you like anything to drink before we start?” she asked.

“Mmm...I think I’m okay for now.” Terezi yawned before following Kanaya down a hallway and into an empty bedroom.  “So, what are we going to do?”

“Well, Rose and her mother will make dinner while I will see what alterations I can make to your dress, if that’s simple enough.  If it still doesn’t work, I’m sure we can just order a similar style online and have it rush shipped overnight.”  The jade-blood opened the closet, where she had stored the bridesmaids’ dresses and her wedding dress, which had a plastic bag over it to prevent Rose from peeking.  “Since I already made some alterations in June, it shouldn’t be too hard to make a few more, but we’ll see.”

Kanaya unzipped the purple dress as Terezi took off her shirt and pants, then slipped it over the teal-blood’s head once she was undressed.  “Okay…” mumbled Kanaya once she had tugged the dress down as far as it could go, “...I think I can let out these pleats, and maybe adjust the hem a bit—”

“Ow!” Terezi exclaimed, jumping a bit and grabbing the spot on her stomach that Kanaya had just stabbed with a pin.  “Watch it, Maryam!  There are grubs in here!”

Kanaya sighed and positioned the pin where she wanted it to be.  “Terezi, it was just an accident, I promise.  It was only a pinch.”

“Only a pinch?  You’ve obviously never been pinched before!”

“I promise you, it did not hurt the grubs,” reassured Kanaya.

“Fine, but if they end up having problems, then I’m blaming it on you!”

Kanaya sighed again and began to unzip Terezi’s bridesmaid dress.  “You’re becoming just as hysterical as Vriska was,” she remarked, motioning for Terezi to step out of the dress.

“I must be going through a surge of hormones.  Don’t mind me.”

“Rose doesn’t want to have children, that being one of the reasons why,” Kanaya said as she put the dress on its hanger and hung it back up.

Terezi was confused.  “Really?  She doesn’t want to have kids just because of that?!”

The jade-blood sadly shook her head.  “I don’t understand.  It doesn’t seem like much of a big deal.  But, as far as I know, there’s no possible way for us to procreate, since we’re both girls.”

Terezi pulled the elastic of her borrowed maternity pants up over her belly.  “You could always adopt.  Karkat and I were really considering doing that before we found out we were having Katrina.”

“That’s what we’ll probably end up doing,” replied Kanaya as she closed the closet doors.  “I think she’s fine with being a parent, it’s just that she doesn’t want to be the one having children.  I’d do it if I knew there were a way for it to be possible without help from another troll, or...a male human, I guess.”  She walked over to the bedroom door and opened it, then began to walk out into the hallway.  “Let’s see how Rose and her mother are doing—”

“I told you, Mom, I don’t think we can have kids!” Rose exclaimed with an irritated grunt.   “We’ve discussed this a million times!  Besides, Kanaya and I aren’t even married yet!”

“Oh, c’mon, Rosie,” Roxy said in a sweet, possibly slightly drunk voice.  “You two can try in vitro fertilization, or talk it through and find a nice man—”

“Mom!”  Rose rolled her eyes before noticing her fiancée and friend standing there, waiting on dinner.  “Look, Kanaya and Terezi are here; we don’t need to be talking about this.”

Ms. Lalonde took another sip of a martini on the counter before laughing again.  “Oh, Rosie, I’m sure it’s fine!  Terezi’s pregnant anyway!”

Terezi laughed nervously and quickly sat down in a chair, resting her hands on her stomach once she had done so.  “So...what’s for dinner?”

* * *

 

**-6:24 pm-**

“Pass the green beans, please.”  Kanaya patiently waited for Terezi to hand her the bowl of beans before putting some on her plate.  “Thank you.”  She set the bowl back down on the dining room table before taking a bite.

“So are you guys ready for the wedding?” Terezi asked Rose and Kanaya.

Rose shrugged.  “As ready as we’ll ever be.  Is this normal?”

“I understand,” Terezi laughed.  “At least you guys had a lot of time to plan.  For some reason, Karkat and I thought it would be a good idea to get married five months after he proposed to me.”

“It turned out surprisingly well, though,” Kanaya told her teal-blooded friend.  

Roxy set her water glass on the table (Rose had “convinced” her to stop drinking for the night) and gave Terezi a smile.  “So Terezi,” she said with a bit of a laugh, “what are y’all gonna name the baby?”

“Oh!”  Terezi nervously laughed and put a hand on her stomach.  “Well, if we have a girl, we’ll name her Eloise, and if we have a boy, we’ll name him Isaac.”

Rose smiled.  “Those are cute,” she told the teal-blood.  “I do have to ask, though—what does Katrina think about being a big sister?”

Terezi shrugged and resumed eating.  “She  can’t talk very well yet, so it’s hard to tell.  She is unhappy that we took away her crib, though.”

“Why would you take away her crib?” Roxy asked.  “She’s just a baby; it’s dangerous for babies to sleep in regular beds.”  Despite being slightly drunk, she sounded serious.

Nervously playing with her diced potatoes, Terezi sighed.  “We didn’t want to go through the trouble of buying another crib, when we could just go ahead and buy her a bed she can use for a while.  You...know how hard it is for young families with children.”

“Well, why did you have kids then?”

Rose slapped her hands against her face.  “Mom!”

Terezi stared at the older human with a shocked look on her face.  “Excuse me?!” she exclaimed, literally jumping out of her chair.  “What are you implying?!”

“I’m not implying anything, Terezi, I’m just wondering why—”

“Hmm...no, you were definitely implying someth—”

Terezi stopped.  She had just felt something she had never felt before, not even when she was pregnant with Katrina.  Her hands slowly moved to the spot on her stomach where she had just felt the pain.

“Terezi?” Kanaya asked.  “Are you alright?”

The teal-blood slowly sat back down.  “I’m...not sure…”

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” Rose asked with concern.  “I’d be happy to drive you there—”

“No, no, I’m fine.”  Terezi sighed before standing up.  “I just need to go home and rest, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” continued Kanaya.  “I don’t want you to hurt yourself or the babies.”

“I assure you, I am fine.”  The teal-blood grabbed her purse and headed for the door.  “If anything happens I’ll be sure to call you, okay?  Thanks for dinner, too.”

The Lalondes and Kanaya awkwardly watched as Terezi left the condo.  “Good...bye?”

* * *

 

Terezi didn’t really take her time driving home, but she didn’t rush either.  She was more focused on the sudden pain she had gotten.  It definitely wasn’t a contraction—those were all over, not just in one place!  She didn’t really know what could have caused it, either; maybe the eggs were simply shifting around or something.  It wasn’t something she had felt with Katrina, so that could have been the case.

The reddish car pulled into the driveway and she killed the engine before walking up to the front door, locking her car as she went.  “I’m back!” she called once she had opened the door, hanging up her purse on a hook on the wall.

“You’re back early,” commented Karkat as he walked out of the kitchen.  “Is everything alright?”

Terezi shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I think I need to rest for a bit.”  She paused.  “Where’s everyone else?”

“Oh, um…”  Karkat went back into the kitchen, his wife following him.  “...Augeth and Obrina are playing with Katrina in her room.  I’m putting up dinner now.”

“Okay.”  Terezi put a hand on top of her stomach before turning around.  “Well, I’m going to go upstairs, alright?”

“Just call for me if you need anything, okay?”  Karkat made sure he gave her a kiss before she went upstairs.

After trudging upstairs, Terezi entered Katrina’s room, where she did in fact find Augeth and Obrina playing with her daughter.  “Welcome back,” Obrina said with a smile.

“Thanks.”  Terezi somehow managed to slide down onto the floor, where Katrina immediately realized her mom was there.  “What have you guys been up to?”

“Just...playing with Katrina,” Augeth replied.  

Katrina crawled over to Terezi and up onto her knee.  “Mama!” she exclaimed, trying to crawl into her lap, but being blocked by her stomach.

“No,” Terezi sighed, feeling bad that she couldn’t let her daughter sit in her lap.  “You can’t sit there right now, baby.”  The teal-blood picked the toddler up off her knee and placed her back on the rug, then slowly began to stand up.

Katrina looked at her mother with wide eyes.  “...No?” she repeated, her eyes beginning to water.  “No, Mama!  Sit!”

“Sorry,” Terezi said sadly.  “Mama’s too tired right now.”  She sighed again before looking up at Augeth and Obrina.  “I’m going to lay down,” she told the two adult trolls.  “Just come get me if you need anything.”

* * *

 

**-10:22 pm-**

Karkat wrapped a fluffy towel around his waist before walking out of the bathroom and into his and Terezi’s bedroom.  “How are you feeling?” he asked his wife, who had been reading yet another parenting book while she was resting.  “Are you feeling any better?”

Terezi sighed and stuck a bookmark in between some pages before shutting the book.  “Not really,” she responded.  “I’m still tired."

“And you’re sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”  Karkat took a t-shirt out of a drawer and slipped it over his head, being careful not to catch it on his arm cast.  “I’d be happy to take you.”

“No, Karkat, it’s not that!” Terezi groaned.  “It’s something with the grubs, I’m sure of it.  Something doesn’t feel right.  I’ve been getting sharp pains in my stomach, in different places.  It’s not labor, Karkat; I know what labor feels like, and it’s not that.”

The mutant-blood sighed and dropped the towel.  “If you say so,” he reluctantly agreed.  “But promise me you’ll tell me the moment you think you’re having them, alright?  You worry me sometimes.”

“Alright.”  Terezi yawned before placing the book on the nightstand next to her side of the bed.  “Well, I’m going to sleep.  Good night.”

“Okay.  Love you.”

“Love you too.”

* * *

**-2:33 am-**

It’s 2:30? Karkat thought, closing his eyes and trying to fall back asleep.  He had no idea why he had woken up, but no matter what the reason for it was, it was still irritating.

He rolled over and realized what the cause was.  Something felt...wet.  “Terezi…” he whispered, “...did you forget to use the bathroom or something?”

There was no response from Terezi except for some heavy breathing.

“Terezi?” repeated Karkat, shaking his wife’s shoulder.  “Babe?”

“Kar...kat…”  It was then Karkat realized her breathing sounded strained.  “It hurts…”

“What hurts?”  Karkat sat up and turned on the lamp.  “Terezi, are you okay?  Do we need to go to the hospital?”  He got out of bed and ran to Terezi’s side, only to notice something he really did not want to see.

It wasn’t urine he had felt.

It was blood.

Teal blood.

As soon as he noticed the blood, Terezi cried out in pain.  “Okay,” Karkat quickly said, “we’re going to the hospital.  I’ll take you to the car, and then get some stuff together, okay?”  He hesitated a moment before slipping his arms underneath Terezi’s body and started to pick her up.

“No, no, no—agh!” Terezi cried, grasping her stomach in pain.

“What is it?”  Karkat set Terezi back on the bed.

“It...hurts.”  The teal-blood grunted and looked up at her husband.  “I can’t move.  I can’t.  It hurts too much.”

“I’ll call an ambulance then—”

“You can’t!”  Terezi cried out again and gasped for breath.  “It hurts means it hurts; I can’t be picked up by anyone, you dumbass!”

Karkat breathed out a long sigh and began pacing around the room.  “...I guess we’re having the grubs here, then,” he finally admitted.

“It’s me having the grubs, you selfish idiot!”

“Calm down.”  He thought for a moment before walking back over to his side of the bed and unplugging his phone.  “I’m going to call Vriska.  She knows how this stuff works.”

“You’re not telling me you’re letting that bitch mess with my stuff, are you?!”

“She’s had a baby before, so she knows how things work!”

“...Guys?”  Augeth yawned before stepping inside the Vantases’ bedroom.  “Could you keep it down; Obrina and I are trying to sleep.”

Karkat sighed.   “Actually, could you do us a favor?”

Augeth shrugged.  “I...guess.”

“Great.  Have you ever delivered a grub before?”

* * *

 

**-5:49 am-**

Vriska had reluctantly agreed to come over, and had been sitting at the foot of the bed to occasionally look at Terezi’s stuff and see how things were going.  Augeth had really taken an interest in what was happening, and already had a couple of pages of notes written.  Karkat had already had several cups of coffee and was really jittery along with being nervous.  Everyone had been doing fine, except for Terezi.

Her condition quickly deteriorated.  Towards the beginning she was responsive, but soon she became exhausted and nearly paralyzed.  A maximum dosage of Advil had done nothing, and Terezi’s consciousness was fading fast.

“Kanaya will know what to do,” Vriska told Karkat, pulling out her iPhone to call the jade-blood.  “Her lusus was a virgin Mother Grub, remember; she’s good at helping.”

“Anything to help her.”  Karkat couldn’t really help his wife, and he was feeling sad about it.  All he could do was provide some encouragement and think long and hard about what would happen with all the new grubs.

Kanaya came over as soon as she could, and by seven, little progress had been made.  Both Karkat and Kanaya had taken the day off from work just to help Terezi, and Karkat promised he’d work overtime without extra pay on some other day to make up for his absence.  Surprisingly his boss agreed, which was good news for his job.

Terezi couldn’t take the pain any longer and finally passed out.  She was drenched in sweat, while Kanaya was wiping off her face with a cold rag.  Her breathing became very labored and everyone had realized the major contractions had begun.

Her consciousness faded in and out as things became more and more painful.  “Now that is a lot of blood,” Vriska commented, which made Karkat freak out.  

“Blood?!” he exclaimed, rushing to the foot of the bed to make sure Vriska wasn’t just trying to scare him.  “Holy shit, she’s dying!  She’s dying, Vriska, is there anything you can—”

“Hush.”  Vriska slapped the mutant to get him to shut up while she continued to watch Terezi to make sure she was fine.  “Everything looks fine, so that’s good, I guess.”

Kanaya wiped more sweat off of Terezi’s forehead before sighing.  “I’m worried about her,” she admitted.  “While she was over last night, she complained about her stomach hurting.  I’m afraid it has something to do with the grubs.”

“She was talking to me about that last night too!” Karkat exclaimed.  He thought for a moment before realizing what could be happening.  “What if...this is a late-term miscarriage…?”

“...No…” mumbled Terezi, who was beginning to wake up again.  “Not...miscarriage…”  She whimpered with pain before breathing a strained breath.  “Can’t...be…”

“Shh,” Kanaya whispered, trying to calm the teal-blood.  Terezi drifted back to sleep just as Vriska popped up from underneath the bedsheet.

“Holy shit, I’d have to say that’s about six centimeters already.  They’re gonna come out soon.”  Karkat tried to peek over Vriska’s shoulder to see if what she had said was true, but she pulled the sheet back down.  “It’s gross down there; I don’t think you wanna see that.”

“She’s my wife and my matesprit, Vriska; I don’t care.”  Karkat peeked underneath the sheet and then immediately put the sheet back down.  “I take that back; that was gross.”

* * *

 

**-7:26 am-**

By now, it was about time for the eggs to be delivered.  Kanaya had gathered up some towels to cradle the eggs in and keep them warm.  Karkat was at his wife’s side, nervously waiting for something to happen.  Augeth and Vriska were watching for the eggs, while Obrina was keeping Katrina calmed down in another room.

Terezi was completely out by the time the first egg was spotted.  “I see one!” Vriska exclaimed, causing Karkat to perk up.

“You can do it, Terezi,” he whispered to her, stroking her warm cheek.

“Kanaya, can I have a towel?”

“Certainly.”  She handed a towel to the cerulean-blood and stepped back.

The room was silent except for Terezi’s subconsciousness groaning.  

“And…”  Vriska waited for the first egg to come out far enough for her to pull it out.  “...here’s the first one!”

Karkat smiled and waited for the egg to be wrapped in a towel before receiving it.  “Terezi,” he sighed, his eyes tearing up, “it’s beautiful.  I can’t wait for you to wake up so we can know what it is.”

“I see the next one!” Vriska exclaimed, getting another towel ready to catch it.  She saw a bit of the leathery shell and held her breath, waiting for it to come out…

“Oh no.”  She stopped when the egg was far enough for her to see most of it.  What should have been an intact, large egg, was a smaller, broken egg.  A small, not fully-formed grub was poking through a bit of the cracked shell, totally lifeless.

“What is it?” Karkat quickly asked.  Vriska looked up at him with sad eyes, remembering what she had gone through with Larissa.  The grub’s lifeless, pinkish body reminded her of the one she had lost, and she began to sniff.  Before she knew it, Vriska was cradling the dead grub like it was her own.

By now Karkat had understood what the matter was, and Kanaya had taken over the delivery.  The next two grubs came out exactly like the second, and that was it.  Only one egg had made it.

Karkat quickly became depressed.  He had no idea how to tell his wife, his matesprit, the love of his life that they had lost three children so quickly.  All he could do was stroke the surviving egg and wonder if it would be an Eloise or an Isaac.

“Karkat…?” Terezi whispered, slowly blinking.

“Terezi.”  Karkat smiled and laughed a little, looking back down at the egg.  “It’s beautiful.”

Terezi turned her head towards Karkat.  “Can...I hold it?”

“Sure,” Karkat told his wife, slipping the single egg into her arms.

The teal-blood softly laughed as she cradled the egg.

“What’s its name?” Karkat excitedly asked as he brushed some of Terezi’s hair out of her face.

“Isaac,” Terezi smiled.  “Isaac James.”

“I like that,” Karkat agreed.  He sighed before wiping tears from his eyes.  “The other three didn’t make it,” he quickly told his wife to get it over with.

Terezi didn’t respond, but rather continued to stroke Isaac.  “I knew that would happen,” she mumbled to herself, beginning to cry.

Karkat put his hand on Terezi’s shoulder.  “...Do you want to see them?” he quietly asked her.

She shook her head.  “That would make me feel even worse. I want to savor this moment, Karkat, please.  Katrina has a little brother now.  One of them survived; that’s all that matters.”

 

 


	34. I Now Pronounce You Wife and Wife

**-Friday, August 4, 1:29 pm/Karkat & Terezi’s house-**

“Katrina Vantas, for the last time, your brother is _not_ a toy!”  Karkat tried to keep his cool as he picked the egg up off the floor and cradled it in his arms.  “You don’t want to hurt Isaac, now, do you?”

Katrina stood up and went to grab another toy up off the floor to occupy herself with.  “I-zuck!” she squealed.  “I-zuck is buvver!”

“Yes, Princess, Isaac is your brother.  Now c’mon, we need to get in the car so we can to Miss Kanaya and Miss Rose’s wedding.  You get to throw the flowers, remember?”

“Flowers!”  Katrina clapped her hands before running over to Karkat, holding her favorite stuffed puffball.  “Coco come?”

“Yes, Coco can come too,” Karkat laughed.  He turned around just in time for Terezi to slowly walk down the stairs with Augeth helping her.  “Terezi, do you need help?”

“I’ve got it.”  The teal-blood gently stepped away from the stairs with a bit of a grunt.  “Augeth, remember what I told you about Isaac?”

“Yes, if he begins to hatch, call you immediately.”  Augeth had been told that a million times so far, and had been getting sick of hearing it.  “Don’t worry, we will.”

“Great,” Terezi told the other female troll, rubbing her back as she went to stand next to her husband.  She was still extremely sore after giving birth to four eggs, three of which were crushed and sharp.  But, because Rose and Kanaya’s wedding was Saturday (today), she kind of forced herself to get up and move around.  It was painful, but she could manage.

Katrina toddled behind her parents as they went out the door, then patiently waited for Karkat to strap her into her car seat as Terezi got in the car.  “Daddy,” she sweetly began, “me pwetty?”

“Yes, Princess, you look lovely,” her father replied, kissing the toddler on the forehead before shutting the back seat door.

The ride to the wedding venue wasn’t very peaceful.  Katrina either babbled to show off her expanding vocabulary, talked to “Coco”, or sang loudly.  Both her parents hoped she wouldn’t be this hyper during the ceremony.

Karkat turned into the botanical garden’s parking lot and drove around to the back lot, which was for the area reserved for weddings and other private events.  The only other cars he spotted were those of Kanaya, Ms. Lalonde, and John.  The wedding wasn’t supposed to begin until 3:30, so the rest of the party still had time to get there.

While Terezi got out of the car, Karkat went around to the back seat to get Katrina and her diaper bag. “Okay, Princess,” he instructed, “Mama and I’ll need you to be real good for the rest of the day, alright?  Casey will be here, too, so the two of you can pl—”

“Coco!” cried the tiny troll, reaching her arms out towards the back seat to indicate she was missing something.  Karkat sighed but knew she would act up if she didn’t have the stuffed “animal”, so he gave in and got it for her anyway.

“If only she liked my scalemates,” laughed Terezi as she followed Karkat into the building.

“I bet she’ll grow on them.”  The mutant-blood set his daughter on the ground and led her down the hall.  “Now, I forget where Kanaya said it would be—”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Roxy laughed, embarrassed.  “If you’re looking for Kanaya, she’s in the very last room at the end of the hall.”

“Thank you.”  Terezi smiled at the woman before following her husband down to the room at the end of the hall.

She knocked on the door before entering just to be safe.  “Come in,” said Kanaya from within.

Karkat opened the door and let his wife and daughter enter the room ahead of him before following the two.  “Hi,” said Kanaya as she turned around in the vanity chair to look at the Vantases.  “I’m so glad you...three could make it.”  She had noticed they hadn’t brought the egg with them, and was kind of confused.  “Where’s Isaac?”

“Augeth and Obrina are watching him for us.”  Terezi sighed with exhaustion and plopped down in a chair.

“You didn’t have to come, you know,” Kanaya told the teal-blood as she fixed her hair.  “I would have totally understood if you had to stay home.  I’m sure you’re still in distress over what happened.”

“Yeah, well, this will help me get my mind off of it,” Terez sighed, scooping Katrina into her arms before sitting her on her lap.  “Where’s everyone else?”

Kanaya sprayed some hairspray on her hair and turned back around.  “Rose is in another room, since neither of us want to see each other until the actual wedding.  Vriska and John are with her, I assume, and I don’t think Jade and Dave have arrived yet.”

A knock at the door prevented anyone from responding.  “Come in,” Kanaya automatically said before the door opened.

Vriska entered the small room, Casey toddling not too far behind her.  “Oh, you’re here,” she remarked, crossing her arms and leaning on the wall.  “I guess that means I can keep Casey distracted until the ceremony, then.”

Katrina recognized her friend and began to squirm in Terezi’s lap.  “Case!” she exclaimed over and over before finally escaping.  She ran over to Casey and the two went to a corner of the room to play.

John entered the room shortly after, and since it was getting kind of awkward for Karkat being the only guy in the room, the two stepped out into the hallway to do whatever.

“How is Rose?” Kanaya asked Vriska.  “I know she’s probably nervous, but is she okay otherwise?”

Vriska shrugged.  “She seemed fine when we were in there, but of course she could be lying.”

* * *

** -2:25 pm/Rose’s dressing room- **

“Alright Lalonde, get yourself together.”  Rose slapped herself across the face before realizing that had just messed up her makeup.  “Great, now look what you’ve done!”

“Rosie!” her mother sang, opening the front door.  “How is everything?”

“Mom, go away!  I’m having a panic attack!”

Roxy smiled and sat down in a chair.  “Oh, Rosie, I’m sure this is normal.  You’ll be calmed down by the time the ceremony starts.”

“What do you know?  You’re not married!”

Roxy giggled and began to blush.  “Well, actually...I think Joseph might be proposing to me soon.”

“You’re not telling me you’re planning on marrying John’s dad, are you?!”

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see on that.”  Ms. Lalonde giggled and started to walk out of her daughter’s dressing room.  “I’m going to check on the flower arrangements.  Just call for me if you need anything—oh, it looks like your friends are here!”

“Sorry we’re late!” exclaimed Jade, rushing into the dressing room with Blake in her arms.  “We had to stop on the way over here since Blake has a diaper rash, and we needed to get that taken care of…”

“Oh, I am so happy Kanaya and I won’t be able to have kids,” Rose mumbled to herself before standing up.  “Where’s Dave?”

“He’s somewhere with John and Karkat, I think.  Don’t mind him.”  Jade put Blake down on the floor, where he began to slowly toddle around the room.  “I’m so proud of Blake, though; he started walking early, so I think he’ll do a good job of carrying the ring.”

“I sure hope so.”  Rose glanced at her wedding dress hanging up yet again before sitting back down at the vanity.  “Well, the wedding starts in an hour, and I think it would be a good idea for me to be ready on time.”

* * *

** -3:28 pm- **

“Okay, Katrina,” Terezi whispered to her daughter, who had the flower basket in her tiny hands.  “I won’t be able to come out with you.  You’ll be walking in front of Aunt Kanaya, and I’ll need you to come straight to me, alright?”

“Okay!”  The toddler smiled largely at her mother and got in front of Kanaya.  “Aunt Kana is pwetty!”

Kanaya softly laughed.  “Thank you, Katrina,” she said before realizing what time it was.  “Oh, goodness, it’s about to start!”

“You’ll do fine,” Vriska reassured.  “I just hope Casey doesn’t mess up…”

A string quartet began to play processional music and the bridal party began to make their way down the aisles on either side of the seats.  The wedding guests were mainly Rose and Kanaya’s coworkers along with some of Roxy’s friends who had known Rose since she was born, but there were still at least forty guests present.

The bridesmaids, accompanied by their husbands and boyfriend, began to make their way down the aisles.  John and Vriska came from the left, Dave and Jade from the center, and Karkat and Terezi from the right.  Once they had crossed paths to stand on either side of the altar, it was time for the babies to begin walking.

The guests “aww”ed when Casey, Katrina, and Blake toddled down the three aisles and ran to their mothers.  Casey was tired of holding the basket and carelessly tossed it aside, strewing the artificial petals all over the grass.  

Finally came the thing everyone had been waiting for.  Everyone turned their heads to watch the two brides walk down the aisles simultaneously.  Rose and Kanaya glanced at each other, smiles appearing on their faces as they met up at the altar.  

The wedding officiant made a small speech about marriage, and wished the couple the best in married life.  Then came the actual exchanging of vows—something that Rose and Kanaya had chosen to be short, but sweet.  Everyone smiled when the two placed the rings on each other’s finger, anxiously awaiting the kiss.  

Then came the words everyone had been waiting for:

“You may now kiss each other.”

Rose and Kanaya embraced each other and locked their lips together as everyone clapped.  Ms. Lalonde began to cry and wiped her eyes, nudging Mr. Egbert to make sure he was snapping pictures of the precious moment.

The now-married couple beamed and looked out at the clapping wedding guests before walking back down the center aisle.  Vriska picked up a squirmy Casey off the ground before sighing with relief as she looked at Terezi.  “Finally, now we get to eat!”

* * *

 

“Are you ready?” Kanaya asked her wife with a smile, picking up the cake knife off the table.

“Always.”  Rose grabbed the knife and began to cut into the pink champagne-flavored cake with Kanaya.  They placed the small slice on a porcelain plate and fed a small bite to each other, laughing the whole time.  

Roxy, who was still in tears over the whole thing, snapped many pictures of her daughter and daughter-in-law cutting their wedding cake.  “You sure do a good job of cake decorating,” she said to Mr. Egbert, who laughed.

“Well, I assume it’s a good thing I’m opening a bakery soon,” he remarked, giving his girlfriend a small kiss on the cheek.

The rest of the reception went exactly as planned.  Rose and Kanaya had a tear-jerking first dance, followed by all the other couples slow-dancing.  Even Katrina and Casey danced with each other.  By the end of the reception, the babies were exhausted, but otherwise everyone else was in a good mood.

The wedding attendees gathered outside the door to the building to send the newlyweds off.  As Rose and Kanaya got into the car, Roxy had a crying fit and had to be comforted by Mr. Egbert, since he understood the feeling.  “Bye everyone!” the couple called, waving as the car pulled out of the parking lot, heading for the airport where they would leave for their Hawaiian honeymoon.

“I can’t believe my baby is married!” Roxy sobbed into Mr. Egbert’s shoulder.  He did nothing but pat her back understandingly before looking her straight in the eyes.

“I think we need to help clean up,” he told her, beginning to lead the blonde woman back into the building.  “Let’s start by picking up the chairs from the ceremony.”

“But why?”  Roxy was confused, and tried to stop her boyfriend from taking her back inside.  “I thought the people working here were going to clean up?”

“Just trust me.”  The middle-aged man continued to lead her through the building and out to the private section of the garden where the wedding ceremony was held.

Roxy stopped.  “What?” she asked.  “Joseph, nothing’s out here!  Why do we need to clean up?”

“Roxy.”  Mr. Egbert led her down the brick pathway and stopped underneath an arch of flowers.  “I hope this isn’t an inappropriate time to be doing this, but I felt like this was the perfect location.”

“Joseph, what’s going on?”

“Shh.  Roxy, it didn’t take me long to realize I love you.  You’re a very classy woman, and I feel like we go great together.  After Maggie died, I wasn’t sure I wanted to date again, but I’m very thankful I decided to give it another go.”

He fumbled around in his pocket.  “Roxy, I feel like we’re perfect together.  And I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Mr. Egbert took a small velvet box out of his pocket and got down on one knee.  “Roxanne Lalonde,” he began, “will you marry me?”

Roxy let out an audible gasp, taken aback by his proposal.  A large smile slowly began to appear on her face, and she nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes.”

 


	35. Epilogue

**-Sunday, August 6, 8:49 pm/Pink Hibiscus Spa & Resort-**

“Rosie, you’ll never guess what happened!”

“What, Mom?”  Rose sighed with frustration and flopped down on the king-sized bed at the resort.  “Are you drunk?”

“No, silly!  Joseph proposed to me yesterday!”

Rose laid her cell phone face down on the bed before screaming into a pillow.  She quickly got herself together before picking the phone back up.  “That’s...that’s great, Mom.”

“You’ll have to help me pick out a wedding dress when you get back!”

“Okay.”  The blonde sighed again and looked up at Kanaya, who had just finished taking a shower.  “Mom, listen, Kanaya and I are tired.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay!”  Roxy giggled on the other side of the line.  “I love you, Rosie!”

“Love you too, Mom.”  Rose hung up with relief before sitting up.

“How is your mother?” asked Kanaya, sitting down on the bed next to her wife.  “Is she okay being by herself for the next few days?”

“Oh, she’s not by herself anymore.  She’s getting married to John’s dad.”  Rose flopped back down on the bed and shoved a pillow in her face.  “I hate everything!”

Kanaya pulled the pillow away from Rose’s face and helped her to sit back up.  “Rose, everything will be fine, I promise.  I know everything’s hitting at once, but can’t you at least be happy for her?  She’s found love; that’s a great thing!”

“It’s not a great thing that she decided to tell me on the first day of our honeymoon!”  She stood up and began pacing around the room.  “She’s selfish, that’s what she is!  I don’t care if she’s happy, she’s ruined the week already!  I don’t think she realizes—”

“Roseline, listen to me.”

Rose stopped.  “Did you just use my full name?!”

“Yes.  Yes I did.”  Kanaya got up off the bed and walked over to her wife.  “Rose, calm down.  You’re getting worked up over nothing.  I’m sure your mother has good intentions, and she doesn’t mean to make you upset.”  She gave the human a kiss.  “Now, I think there’s a little something we could do to get your mind off of things?”

* * *

 

**-Tuesday, August 22, 7:24 am/Rose and Kanaya’s condo-**

“Goddammit!”  Rose sighed and locked her phone before opening the fridge to get some orange juice.

“What is it?” Kanaya asked, looking up from her breakfast.  “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine.  My period’s just late.”  The blonde shut the refrigerator door with an irritated sigh.  “I guess with the wedding excitement and all...it must have been paused or something.”

Kanaya was trying to remember what a “period” was, but when she finally remembered, realized what it could have meant.  “Rose...do you think you might be pregnant?” she asked nervously.

“Of course not, Kanaya.  We’re both girls.  It’s impossible.”  Rolling her eyes, Rose walked over to the kitchen table and sat down next to her wife.  “Besides, I don’t want to be the one having children.  I’d rather adopt an older child so we can skip the baby stages.”

“There’s a species difference, remember,” reminded Kanaya.  “Vriska didn’t know she could get pregnant by a human...maybe humans can get pregnant by trolls…?”

“No, that can’t be right,” Rose quickly said.  “We’re both girls.  We can’t reproduce together.”

“Species difference, Rose.  I have a bulge, which is the equivalent to male genitalia, and we...used it.”

“Look, Kanaya, I already said, I can’t be preg—”

She hadn’t even finished her sentence when she threw up orange juice all over the table.

Kanaya cringed and slowly began to stand up.  “Rose,” she calmly began, “come on.  We’re going to the drugstore to buy a pregnancy test.”

* * *

 

**-8:09 am-**

“What do I do if I’m actually pregnant?” Rose wondered aloud, nervously pacing back and forth in her and Kanaya’s bedroom.  “I’m not prepared to have a baby, I don’t know how to take care of a baby, and I don’t want to have a baby!”

“Rose, we’ll figure it out,” Kanaya assured.  “We do a great job babysitting Casey and Katrina, so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“But we haven’t talked about doing this!”

“Calm down.”  Kanaya put her hands on Rose’s shoulders.  “If you are pregnant, you’ll be a great mother.”

The timer Rose had set on her phone beeped.  “It’s ready,” she quickly said.  “Oh, my god, Kanaya, I don’t want to look!”

“If you don’t want to look, then I’ll look.”  Kanaya began to walk into the bathroom, but Rose quickly jumped in front of her.

“No, no, no, I’ll look!”  She hesitated for a moment, but then stepped back.  “I changed my mind; you go look!”

Kanaya nodded and walked over to the bathroom counter.  She tensed up before slowly reaching down and picking up the pregnancy test.

“Rose,” she laughed, a smile appearing on her face, “we’re going to have a baby.”

 

_**TO BE CONTINUED...** _

 

 


End file.
